Life In Religious Boi

irregularly placed kiosks @ Boi

Boi is one of the many small villages in the Abokobi Electoral Area. The village is located in the Ga East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, and about 800-900 meters away from the Abokobi township, with an inhabitant population of close to thousand persons.

Boi is largely under-developed and irregularly placed kiosks and squatter settlements greet a first timer into the community, predominantly inhabited by Ga-speaking people.

The community, a part of the Ga East Municipality appears to have been cut-off the normal urban communities, and as a result of the low standard of living of inhabitants, farming is their main occupation.

For decades, the community had to make do without some basic social amenities, such as schools, health centers, public toilets and the like.

some settlements @ Boi

But for the benevolence of some NGO’s in health and education, as well as private stakeholders, establishment of the current CHPS compound and some schools here would not have seen the light of day.

Despite these welcoming initiatives in the area, a lot seems to be lacking in an attempt for the community to achieve developmental status like their more fortunate sister communities in the municipality.

Proper waste management systems here are pretty much non-existent, hence compelling inhabitants to dump refuse in an open space close to some homes, to the left of God’s Grace barbering shop, in the community.

This dump site also invariably serves as a public toilet for some inhabitants. On my visit, I spotted some children defecating on the dump site, bare-footed.

Unlike urban Accra, Boi and her surrounding communities have had to grapple with persistent neglect by city authorities. Until recently, Boi was a squatter community in total darkness.

The connection of the soon-to-develop area to the national grid came as welcome news and a breath of life into the community.

An action, which has led to the upsurge in petty business enterprises in the area, serving as a source of livelihoods for the people.

That notwithstanding, some dwellers here earn below the minimum wage of about six cedis for the least form of work done.

Some private investors identifying the community as a thriving ground for business have established some four private institutions of learning.

This move has in a way bridged the huge education gap among residents, but even this, is a reserve for the few town folk who can afford the fees.

Framers of the 1992 constitution, and their dream to see the citizens attain education in a certain form, seems not to be one that people of this community are entitled to.

The community lacks anything close to a public school, which would have served the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) needs of the people. For residents who were interested in some form of education for their wards, the children have to trek over a kilometer to the Abokobi district school far away in the municipal capital, Abokobi.

If this is not a disincentive for getting education, what else can be?

I see Marcus busily tilling a piece of fenced land readying the portion for planting maize later in the week.

He is not alone; many other inhabitants are doing same.

The rains - when they set in, also usually leave in its wake huge gullies which make the already deplorable road networks unmotorable at times.

some roads @ Boi when it rains

Among the consequences of the season associated with rains,‘troskis’ do not ply the full distance of the road, leaving commuters and passengers stranded midway through their journey.

Child exploitation does not appear abating anytime soon, at least not at Boi. At a facility close to the main chemical shop in the vicinity, some masonry work is on-going.

A number of below fifteen year old boys were busy fetching water from a half-broken bridge for use by the mason in his work.

The question which immediately arose in my mind was whether or not these young boys were doing these with the express consent of their parents.

I called one of the boys to have a word with him; he tells me his mother was aware of his participation of an activity like this.

How much are they paid for their work?
Surprisingly, the monies these guys are paid after such heinous work cannot even provide an average lunch meal for them.

One cedi per child, after several buckets of water fetched for the concrete works going on, this in its consistent form could be serious crime against these children and their rights.

And just as I decide to leave the community, I crush into a fascinating scene. Some weird missionary group had invaded the near-slum community and was performing some eye-catching displays, chanting and singing. Their energy was phenomenal.

The male missionaries had their haircut in a funny way with all the hair, but a small round portion on the back of their heads, shaved, like a monk.hahahahaaaaaaa…

If any of these sign postings are anything to go by, then inhabitants of the near-slum community, Boi must be really God-fearing. In their own small way, people of Boi are living the days as they come, and life for them is as modest as it gets.

Kingsley Komla Adom
The Writer is a Journalist
Article written in 2014.
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