The deal is done. A customer about to pay for his fowl.

Celebrating Xmas in a broke city of gold...Tales from Obuasi

Set J. Bokpe Features Dec - 30 - 2014 , 00:28

It was a hot sunny Thursday and the sun battled the clouds as the morning faded into the afternoon, but the sparse crowd at the market was oblivious to the weather.

Voices rose and fell in unison, as traders routinely tried to outdo one another in customer calls that blended into non-harmonious noise.

When a customer responded to a call, bargaining followed until the deal was sealed and money exchanged hands.

Fowls, cooking oil, vegetables, children’s shoes were in hot demand.

Not far away, a street preacher was in action, with a message that taunted women wearing men’s clothing and vice versa.

She had no microphone but her voice was loud enough to attract some listening ears and nodding heads.

Happy moments

In the middle of the market, in the midst of plantain and orange sellers, a loud speaker was blaring the season’s songs, with another street preacher, with a croaky voice, singing along, while ecstatic traders joined the chorus, simultaneously dancing and clapping.

Occasionally, hell broke loose on the main road that ran through the market, as cane-wielding metro guards chased traders away from unapproved selling points.

This was Christmas Day in Obuasi, the mining town in the Ashanti Region more famous for its gold than its green mountainous and panoramic landscape.

A town in distress

For 117 years, Obuasi evolved and revolved around gold mining.

The shutdown of the operations of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) and a crackdown on galamsey (illegal mining) this year have turned the local economy on its head.

At least 6,000 people have been laid off in a redeployment exercise, ostensibly to save the AGA from total collapse as factors, including falling gold prices, an over-bloated workforce and aged infrastructure, conspired to rob the company of its needed profit.

Although the mine has been closed down and mine workers who are not Obuasi indigenes have left the town in droves, a 700-workforce remains, currently involved in care and maintenance to turn around the fortunes of the company.

Obuasi, which literally means ‘Under the rock’, in reference to the gold buried under the rocks, is passing through hard times.

Lamentations

In a town where wealth resulting from gold reflects on every festive occasion, this Yuletide came with it complaints on the lips of both sellers and buyers.

“Last year and the year before, the market was very good. People were not even asking for reduction in prices. But this year, even though I have kept the prices low to quickly sell off what I have in stock, sales have been low,” a fowl seller, Ms Yaa Anim-Yeboah, said while beckoning a potential customer.

Another fowl seller, Mr Kofi Boateng, who said he had been selling fowls for the past 13 years, added that sales had dwindled this year.

According to him, over the last decade he sold between 10,000 and 20,000 fowls between December 19 and January 1, every year, but as of Christmas Day this year, he had sold only 500 fowls.

He blamed the turn of events on the closure of the mine.

It was not everybody who was melancholic about the future of Obuasi.

For a cosmetics dealer, who gave her name only as Jessica, the future of the town was in the hands of former employees of the mine who had received their redeployment packages.

“If they are able to invest the money in businesses, the next Christmas and beyond will not be this dry,” she said.

Nana Agyei, a taxi driver and retired mine employee, did not mince words when he said the mine shut down would bring untold hardships to Obuasi, especially in the new year.

The lamentations of these traders did not match what I saw when I arrived in Obuasi on Christmas Eve.

Although Christmas décor was not visible, the various churches and entertainment spots were busy.

Christmas eve

Sporadic fireworks lit the dark sky, some spreading into the colours of the rainbow, accompanied by gunfire-like sounds.

While the revelers were twisting, turning and twirling to the latest hits, the faithful were gathered in churches across the town.

Familiar Christmas carols filled the air at the St Thomas Cathedral, while the Church of Pentecost had an open-air convention.

At the Anyinam Food Court, which has an alias — Container — more popular then its official name, empty and half-filled bottles littered every table.

It was 11.15 p.m. and wobbly legs and slurred speeches were beginning to emerge in some corners, but the music kept the night’s tempo going.

Here too, the owner said the closure of the mine had affected his business.

“In the past, by 5 p.m. on 24th Night this place was packed with customers, especially mine workers, but this year I have to call people. It is difficult; things are very difficult,” he said.

Xmas with cat meat

Back to events on Christmas Day.

About 10 minutes’ drive from the market is the Sam Jonah Estates, home to tens, of mine employees.

But the bubbly community has lost its shine. Hundreds have moved away after they were served three-month eviction notices after the redeployment exercise.

What is left of the otherwise busy neighbourhood is a semblance of a well-kept ghost town.

Among the few awaiting the haulage vehicle to move out of the estates by February is the Essuman Family.

On Christmas Day there was no poultry, mutton or beef for dinner. Rather, there was cat meat.

According to Mr Essuman, who had worked at the Obuasi mines for 25 years, he had gone to the bank to cash his money after his redeployment but the cash had not hit his account.

“This is the first time I had to kill a cat to celebrate Xmas. For those of us who stayed on and received retrenchment letters on November 18, we had expected the company to give us the usual Xmas package, including rice, oil and chicken but nothing came,” he lamented.

But the ‘no show’ did not stop Mr Essuman and his friends from celebrating the day with an alcoholic beverage while they cooled off under a mango tree.

The Secretary of the Obuasi Branch of the Mine Workers Union, Mr Nicholas Yeboah, had an explanation for the non- delivery of the Christmas package.

According to him, the new system was that the company paid a 13th-month salary at the end of the year, but since the workers did not work up to December, they could not receive the 13th-month bonus.

About five blocks away from the Essumans lives Mrs Monica Ansah, who sells cassava and plantain.

She explained that on Christmas Day last year, she was so busy selling that she could not cook, but this year she had served only five people as of 12.30 p.m. on Christmas Day.

Does Obuasi have a tomorrow?

The Manager of the Africana Lodge, Mr Lawrence Derry, summed up the challenges of the town.

“The future looks bleak, unless something drastic happens. We have been told the mine could be reopened next year. It is the only thread of hope we are hanging on,” he said.

For a 33-room lodge that accommodated 28 people during the Xmas season last year, serving the needs of five people during the same period this year summed up the woes of the hospitality industry in Obuasi.

From the tales gathered in Obuasi, it will take resilience, the kind that the town has never seen before, to help it bounce back to its former glory and bring the spirit of Christmas back to the hilly mining town.

Writer’s email: [email protected]