Has Brutality Become Banal?

This week’s column was published here, and is also conveniently posted right here:

Last week’s news was dominated by an odd duet of stories, with coverage on air and in print alternating almost exclusively between the Cup of Nations football tournament and the botched bust of the child prostitution operations at Accra’s Soldier Bar. Time and again call-in shows focusing on the previous night’s game found themselves fielding calls about escaping child prostitutes (and vice versa), in an awkward but telling demonstration of the divide in Ghana’s collective consciousness.

As the week began, I was in full football fever mode, but by Tuesday I’d begun tuning out the never-ending analysis, and tuning in as more details about the bust and subsequent disappearance of the apprehended minors from government custody emerged. As the week wore on, and focus shifted almost exclusively to who was responsible for the girls’ “escape,” I was disappointed to find little attention paid to the issue that had attracted my attention in the first place. I share in people’s disbelief and anger about the girls’ release from the social welfare centre, but I wonder why they’re not angrier about another troubling aspect of the story.

I’m referring in particular to the assault on the three journalists who were present at the bust:

Football Fever

After a long hiatus (to be explained in a later post), I wrote a new column, which was published here, and appears below:

As I write this column, commentators on my radio (and I’m sure every other Ghanaian FM station) are dissecting the Black Stars’ opening match win over Guinea in the African Cup of Nations. I had intended to dedicate my return to GO’s pages (did you miss me?) to one of my trademark rants against a problematic Accra Metropolitan Assembly policy. But, like the rest of the country, I’ve caught a case of Black Star fever, so the rant will have to wait until the fever has broken.

When I first learned that I would be spending seven months in Ghana, one of the first things I went to research was football. As a citizen of one (Canada) and former resident of another (the U.S.) of the few countries in the world where football is not the most popular sport (they even call it soccer!), I am always happy when my travels bring me to countries that share my love of the beautiful game. I’e been lucky to find myself living in both England and France during major football tournaments, where I could find other enthusiasts gathering around every available TV set to watch match after match after match.

You can imagine my joy at discovering that not only would there be a major African football tournament while I was on the continent, but in the very country and city where I would be living.