On Security

READER BEWARE (of open sewers)

"If money bought happiness, the wealthy would be dancing in the street. But only poor kids do that."

This was recently observed on a church bulletin letter. It's one of those pithy sayings such as, "Dance like nobody is watching" or "Do what you love, love what you do". Yet somewhere in the cliché is a kernel of truth.

Since moving to Accra, Mr. and Mrs. O - mild-mannered members of the middle class at home - have inadvertently become part of Ghana's top 1%. And the feeling of insecurity has become embedded in their psyche: their property has walls, electric fencing and guards, their house has windows with iron bars and ovsesized locks. Even when they drive, the doors are kept locked and windows rolled up.

All of these features are ostensibly to protect them from thieves and murderers. Yet in Accra, one is most commonly assaulted by the smell of open sewer and for most, the sketchiest people encountered on the street are starving or hanicapped beggars - hardly a serious security threat. The biggest killers out there are reckless drivers of taxis and tro-tros. Thieves are statistically more likely to be disgruntled guards or househelp doing inside jobs. (On a related note: treat these people nicely. They know where you keep the nice stuff.)

To be sure, crime in Accra is an issue, but not on the scale of Lagos or Johannesburg, where daylight carjackings and murders are a regular occurrence. The best advice for safety in Accra is the same that would be given for a major city like London, New York or Toronto: enjoy yourself, be self-aware and don't go to certain areas at certain times. 

With the booming economy, opportunistic crime is on the rise. Up until recently, robbers were only armed with machetes (and mostly for the scare factor), but stories of brandished handguns and once-in-a-blue-moon expat murder are becoming more common.

All of this points to the problem of inequality: in much of Mr. and Mrs O's home country, crime is not a huge issue because the rich are not outrageously rich, the poor are not abjectly poor and social services can fill major gaps. So while doors are locked at night, security is taken more or less for granted. In (overly) broad terms, Ghanaians have historically existed in a state of dignified poverty, but current economic growth primarily benefits the wealthy (especially the male, moneyed and politically-connected) and is concentrated in a few urban areas. Ghana will have to decide how it deals with the dual goals of joining middle income nations while ensuring that its citizens earn a middle-class income themselves. Otherwise, the walls will stay high and electrified, the guards vigilant and the nights ever darker with mystery and danger.

It is a big scary world out there, but it still needs exploring.

In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. O will remain vigilant, but make every effort to enjoy Ghana and to connect with their fellow human beings, whether they be wealthy fellow expats, or the poor-yet-friendly folks asking for change on the street. Living behind walls is a fact of life, but it is important to venture outside of them every now and then to remember what makes the city and the country so fascinating and why Ghanaians have a reputation for being the friendliest people in Africa. It is also important to show Little Miss the world beyond her compound and to feel a part of it. In the end, it will be the people themselves who decide how to treat one another and how to feel secure both individually and collectively.