The piper picked his flute, looked up into the skies and shook his head. Something was missing—his tunes. He stood motionless—struggling, trying, battling with his memories to remember what to play. For once, he was bereft of melodies. Not really. He wasn’t bereft. He’d forgotten what to play. “Just a night before now I’ve played this tunes all day. How come I can’t remember?” He thought to himself. “I’ve never lacked music. What is happening to me?” He stood still. Contemplating. His audience looked on. Confused. Five minutes. Ten minutes...Twenty minutes gone and still no trace of the melodies he played just a night before. “Maybe it’s time. It’s time to go.” He said. The piper took a bow—namaste, and walked off the stage. Murmurings and whisperings later, one among the audience asked; “What just happened?” An answer came from the crowd; “Alas, the piper took his final bow. His flute sings no more and it’s time to go.” Time to go… Some days you go and you come back. Some days you g
The Chairman of the Despite Group of Companies, Osei Kwame Despite, knows how to get tongues wagging. He appears to have monopolised mastery of the script on how to display opulence and set the agenda without opening his mouth. The other day, it was a housewarming. Yesterday, it was the marriage ceremony of his son. (Take the guests list out and what became known as Despite’s son’s wedding could rival the British royal wedding in grandeur.) And today, it is his 60 th birthday celebration. The occasions may be different. But the reactions are often the same on social media, hairdressing salons, offices, markets and in homes. Beyond these occasional outbursts of mixed reactions that greet the periodic showmanship, however, there is a permanent feature in conversations around a certain residential address in Ghana’s capital. Anyone who drives or leads another on a certain street in Accra’s East Legon and does not say, “This is Despite’s house,” must be blind or ignorant of the occupant