On the 6^th April I took myself to Wood Green to listen to how well the new government has done over the past couple of years and see if there are any ideas I could get as to how I can invest in Ghana.

I will start of by speaking on the positives of this programme. Honourable Minister of Information – Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. The former Joy FM broadcaster was articulate and on point. He answered every question directed towards him without any BS, and anything he couldn’t answer on the spot , he said honestly that he would take it away and come back on it. Unlike some who when put in a tight corner would become defensive and borderline insulting, he was patient and kind and you showed that he genuinely cared about the interests of his audience. He is probably one of the only ministers who I would say is truly qualified and truly deserves his post. For this reason, and probably this reason alone I stayed almost 6 hours in this North London centre.

Yes, I stayed 6 hours of a 3 hour programme. It was supposed to start at 3pm, it started at 4.45, I should have known when they were given out water that it was going to be a long night.

At 4.17pm, the host Linda came out to say there would be a slight delay due to a technical issue. No apology and did that usual Ghanaian thing when people get upset, rather than apologise, became very defensive. Now I know that the expectation is that Ghanaians are going to be late but this isn’t a birthday party or a christening, this was supposed to be a professional forum. Why do we pander to tardiness instead of holding people accountable to time. We talk about “International Standards”, but apart from charging everything in dollars, I really don’t see what these standards are.

While waiting, I was eavesdropping on the conversation in front of me. A lady asked the gentleman sitting next to her where he was from. He must have said he was from Ghana, and so she asked him what tribe, for which I think he started to get uncomfortable. She said she was Fant-Ash (half-fanti, half ashanti, which kind of tickled me). Eventually he said he was from the volta region. She did point out something that I totally agree with and that is, if you ask an English person where they are from, they would say Birmingham, London, Yorkshire etc.. Yes we are all Ghanaian and proudly Ghanaian but I don’t think being proud of your tribe diminishes any other tribe (although we do know what happens).

When the meeting eventually started, there was again no apology, Linda just dived right in with a accentuated accent, she dived straight in, with a few jokes that fell flat I don’t think she even realised audience that were basically fed up. I don’t think I would hire her for future events.

His Excellency the British High Commissioner gave an introduction. He reminds me of that uncle who has little nuggets of gold in what he is saying, but he talks so much that you just want him to finish and sit down.

There was a dance troupe, I would  love to tell you how good they were but rather than using the stage space, they were down just in front of the first row so where I was sitting I didn’t see much. Also by the time they came on, people were either tired, going to the restroom, going to work or going to take care of their kids.

Nothing once again on help for those of us who want to invest our skills for the development on Ghana (but I have yet to have gone to one of these events that focus’ on careers).

At 8.30, two and a half later than scheduled, it was all over. I do hope they look at how badly executed this was for the next time, but who knows. Watch out for part 2 where I delve deeper into the content.