Jackson Park
on Richard in Koforidua (Ghana), 11/May/2009 10:27, 34 days ago
It is a long time since I made specific mention of Jackson Park in the heart of Koforidua. By European standards, its hard surface and lack of grass makes it more a square than a park, but either way it is an excellent facility and as far as I am aware unique amongst regional capitals. It hosts everything, from the grandest funerals, parades and durbars to ping pong for the children, basketball for the wheelchair team and the weekly bead market.For Ghana’s Golden Jubilee, each regional capital created a new Jubilee Park to perform a similar role to Jackson Park. For reasons which are not entirely clear to me, rather than refurbish Jackson Park, an entirely new ground was constructed near the regional police training school. It was said that refurbishment would have meant the loss of the name Jackson Park in favour of Jubilee Park. The result is that Jackson Park continues to get steadily scruffier and the new Jubilee Park stands almost entirely neglected. The police seem to use it for practice drills and I have seen it used as trainingground for learner drivers but its inconvenient location means it is unlikely to have much of a future.On Friday, Jackson Park was once again packed for a night of music sponsored by the French Embassy and the currently ubiquitous Vodafone. I arrived around six and sat on the edge of the stand to watch the final light and sound checks. After a couple of wet and overcast days, the sky had largely cleared but it remained pleasantly cool. Behind me the sun was sinking, creating a striking sunset and bathing the scene in a golden glow. The final egrets flew to their favourite tree in the corner of the square after a day spent stalking the local cattle. In front of me, the almost full moon emerged from behind Obuotabiri and began its ascent into the now inky blue sky.A couple of rows of chairs had been set up in front of the stage. These had been monopolised by the local kids. Some of them were briefly distracted by the arrival of the tall white man but they were generally happy to watch the proceedings and dance to the test music booming from the speakers.With the sun finally gone, the park was lit by a combination of strong moonlight and stronger stage lights. One or two Fan Milk boys tried to sell a few more meat pies and ice creams before calling it a day. The park gradually filled. The giant screen started showing looped Vodafone commercials. (Vodafone now owns a large chunk of Ghana Telecom and almost overnight it has rebranded it. It says something about the precarious quality of the mobile phone services here when Vodafone selects as its slogan:‘The network that works’.) Eventually some hours after the billed start time, a DJ appeared and started the proceedings. It was 10:30 before the main act began, a mixture of rap, traditional drumming and some strong Malian influences. I had been joined by my friends by now. We enjoyed it andthe audience was appreciative but it had been a long day and by 11:45 most of us had given in.