Page 13 - Volume 1_Go home mzungu Go Home_merged with links

Notes from the Author

Origins & Destinations

Origins

I didn’t know it at the time, but the germ for this book was born inside me when, aged 11-
12 years, my family moved to newly independent Ghana as part of a small detachment

allocated to support that country’s first President.

A germ born out of my witnessing at first hand the distortions to that country's

economy by a 20th century Scramble for Africa.

My family’s social life almost entirely comprising time spent in the homes of

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embassy people from countless countries – everyone of them involved in a 20
century scramble to be the dominant influence inside an ‘independent’ African
nation.

The empty shelves of a Department Store as the government restricted ‘import
licences’ in order to preserve what little foreign currency there was.

My disquiet of my parents calling our African servant a ‘boy’ when to me he was

obviously a man.

It was a seed that germinated and matured much later in life when travelling widely in

Africa and taking the opportunity to take up residence in different African countries so as

to properly absorb the reality of life in each.

On the one hand, a deeper understanding of what life is like for the ordinary
African. Their culture, the challenges they face. The pressures on them. On the
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other hand, a stream of unrelated chance meetings with other m'zuŋ u.
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Different people. Each with different backgrounds and purposes for being in
Africa. All with something in common. An underwhelming level of shallowness

in their understanding of Africa and Africans. And in far too many, a level of
condescension towards Africa.

The ‘3 rate ‘consultants’ from my country. Sent to help Africans develop skills
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that would allow them to impact widely on African businesses. In reality seeking

opportunities for themselves. Reducing highly educated Africans to the role of
juniors / ‘bag carriers’.