UPHOLD THE DIGNITY OF THE ARMED FORCES (PAGE 25)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi

There were high hopes that the Ghana 2008 tournament would not only help change the looks of the Essipun community, but also its status from a village to a mini-city.
To some extent, members of the community succeeded in giving the community a facelift but economic benefits they had hoped for were all dashed as the supposed 60,000 visitors the venue organising committee said would come to the twin-city failed to show up.
Even the little who came were quickly transported to Takoradi. Organised supporters who came in to support their national teams left the community after every match as the people of the host community watched in amazement. The visitors did not even stop to ask for the prices of the wares members of the community had in stock.
To the residents they might lose economically, but at least the tournament had added economic value to the town and positioned it firmly on international sporting maps.
But after the match the people of the host community could just boast of the fact that they witnessed the game in their life time and have also seen the upgrading of facilities such as streetlights. The name of the community has been mentioned internationally.
The economic benefits that came with hosting matches were all taken over by smart traditional cooks from Nigeria , Cote d’Ivoire and Benin.
People in the twin-city went to every length to obtain loans to secure spaces near the stadium to sell local meals and wares, thinking that they would be patronised but the story was different after the commencement of the tournament.
To them they would not even describe the situation as low patronage but rather “no show”.
The 26th Africa Cup of Nations, (Ghana 2008), is over and the people are yet to come to terms with the losses they made.
To them, their ultimate dream was not to make profit, but they recorded great losses that made them regret ever thinking of taking the loans.
It all started on the first day after the match between the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire and Nigerians Super Eagles. Just after the match supporters of both teams boarded buses back to Takoradi.
The vendors said they became alarmed and thought the situation would change, but it continued till the end of the tournament.
The sad aspect of the situation was that the host community did not have hotels or guest houses that could attract the supporters to stay there. The only thing that kept the community alive was the police camp and the busy road through the community to Sekondi-Takoradi.
Therefore, night life in the community was dull as if there was nothing going on.
“We might have lost the economic benefits but here all is not lost and we have so much to live for,” one elder said.