Of Accra knowledge and ‘The London Knowledge’
This week’s column is dedicated to my special ‘auntie’, Mrs Frances Ademola, or Auntie Frances, a former broadcaster of repute and owner of the leading African art gallery in Accra, The Loom, on the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.
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This piece is the continuation of a conversation we had a few months ago about a subject which I believe is also of general interest.
She happened to mention her frustrations over the abysmal lack of knowledge of some Accra taxi drivers about street names and landmarks. Many of them didn’t even know ‘Kwame Nkrumah Avenue’ and usually, it was only after they had arrived at her gallery, Samlotte House, that they would say: “Oh, but I know this road! It’s just that I didn’t know its name.”
She cited also the experiences of tourists who had found that the taxi driver they had expected to be able to take them to her gallery, or other popular addresses in the city, had no clue about them. “Why don’t you write about the appalling taxi services?” she suggested. I assured her that I would.
For, sometime ago, a fascinating article about London’s famous taxis, the black cabs, and “The London Knowledge” test its drivers are required to pass, coupled with my own encounters, had planted a seed in my mind, and a taxi article was already on my list.
So, Auntie Frances, this is for you – and all other hapless taxi passengers who have to endure the hassle of travel with incompetent taxi drivers. It’s also for the attention of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)!
Last Friday, rushing to an evening function at the Coconut Grove Hotel, located between the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), and the Ako Adjei Interchange, I asked a ward to get me a taxi from the Dansoman Estate main road. Assuming that ‘GBC’ might be more familiar than the Interchange, I told him to tell the driver that my destination was near the GBC.
Soon, a taxi was at my gate and my ward came to tell me that the driver had said he didn’t know the place, but if I knew how to get there I could direct him.
As we set off, I confirmed the destination with the driver. He replied: “The boy said you’re going to the Radio Gold area.”
“What!” I exclaimed. “I’m sure he told you GBC; or you think that Radio Gold and GBC are the same?” Then when I suggested that we should use the Graphic road, it appeared unfamiliar to him.
Curious about an Accra taxi driver who did not know the Graphic Road, I asked him where he normally operated.
“Madam, in fact I work in Kasoa but this evening I got a ‘dropping’ from Kasoa to Dansoman and I was on my way back to Kasoa when your small boy stopped me.”
On the Graphic Road, I asked him if he had heard about the flyover because we were about to go on it. He admitted that he had never been on it.
After I paid him and got down, he had a question: “Madam, how do I get to Kwame Nkrumah Circle? As for Circle, I know that when I get there I’ll be able to find my way to Kasoa easily.”
He drove off in the direction of the Ako Adjei Interchange where I had told him to make a u-turn to head towards Circle. I just hope that he didn’t lose his way and end up at La or Legon!
I imagine that some of the city’s taxi drivers live in Kasoa and that many would know their way around Accra. Just my luck to get one who didn’t know the city!
But it appears that there are countless others, too. Coincidentally, the taxi driver who took me home after the function told me that earlier that evening somebody who had asked a taxi driver to be taken to the Alisa Hotel, which incidentally is not too far from the Coconut Grove, had been dumped unceremoniously somewhere on the Ring Road because the driver said he couldn’t find the Alisa.
The two incidents set me wondering about the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s role in city transport services. Apparently, although taxis have to get an AMA licence, there’s no requirement for the taxi drivers to know the city, as is the regulation in some parts of the world, London, for example.
London’s famous black cabs are a common sight there and its drivers are experts on destinations in the city – for a very good reason.
As one reference source explains: “London taxi drivers go through stringent training to obtain their licence. They need to pass ‘The Knowledge’, a test which is among the hardest to pass in the world.
“To become an All-London taxi driver, you need to master no fewer than 320 basic routes, all the 25,000 streets that are scattered within the basic routes and approximately 20,000 landmarks and places of public interest ... It takes the average person between two to four years to learn ‘The London Knowledge’.” (Emphasis mine.)
(However, the black cabs are different from the ‘mini cabs’ system people in Ghana know about because it’s a popular full or part-time occupation for Ghanaians and other foreigners in the UK. Mini cabs have to be booked at their office, or by phone, and are usually cheaper than the black cabs.)
Evidently there are many taxi drivers in Accra who could do with some training, if not to ‘The London Knowledge’ standard, certainly to a basic standard of knowledge of Accra.
I recall that sometime ago the AMA tried to introduce uniforms for the city’s taxi drivers, which some of us opposed. Strange that the AMA apparently doesn’t think it more important for the city’s drivers to show proof that they know the city before they are given the AMA licence.
I have come across Accra taxi drivers who were ignorant about the location of the following: the Passport Office; Police Headquarters; Ridge Hospital; the Ga Mantse’s Palace; the A & C Mall; West Legon; Cocoa House; the Accra International Conference Centre; the National Theatre and Ringway Estate – to give some examples.
All over the world, taxi drivers are expected to know at least the main locations and Accra taxi drivers should not be an exception. Also, if the country is serious about its tourism drive, it should include some kind of training for taxi drivers in basic information about their area.
Furthermore, I think that such a policy would dovetail beautifully into the current nationwide street-naming exercise.
However, ironically, the one thing most of the inept taxi drivers have no problem with is overcharging. Even when they are clueless about a destination, they are able to guesstimate an astronomical fare!
