Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital of Ghana also known as the Garden City of West Africa and affectionately referred to as Oseikrom, particularly by the city dwellers is known to be the second busiest city in the country coming after the capital city.
Research
has proved that it is also the hub of small businesses and quiet a number of
business activities take place both at day and night.
Life at
night in Kumasi is characterized by several activities ranging from business,
enjoyment, security enhancement, church activities to night clubbing among
others.
Life at
night in Kumasi is very brisk and can better be described at suburbs like,
Bantama and its High Street, Ashanti New Town popularly called ‘Ash Town’, Krofrom,
Dichemso and Kwadaso. The rest are Asafo, Patase High Street, Ahodwo, Atonsu as
well as The Ridge-Ahodwo Round About stretch and around the Golden Tulip area
where commercial sex workers do brisk ‘business’ till dawn.
This
write-up cannot pass a complete test without mentioning the night
clubs and drinking spots that see a high patronage particularly during weekends
and public holidays.
Just about
200 meters drive from the Ahodwo Round About heading towards Ahodwo Township,
ECHOES Valley, a highly patronized pub where merry makers have found to be the
most contented arena for a combination of almost all that one may require to spend
an enjoyable night night.
One
thing always becomes reminiscent any time Kumasi comes to mind. For the city’s reveler
passing time anywhere else, against the backdrop of memories of the daily
hustle in the metropolis, the obvious is dawn on you at some point to come to
terms that those moments are truly memorable.
Give
the place whatever name you could find in your glossary. Describe your daily encounter
with the sharp talking tongues; of often street hawkers who would literally
build you Heaven on earth, just to persuade you to purchase their ware on the
ever busy alleys of Kejetia and Adum, with whatever adjectives there is.
One thing that will always remain unchanged and occupy your lasting memories in
your stay or trip to Ashanti’s capital is life in Kumasi after 5pm.
Home
to one of Africa’s richest and longest preserved cultural heritage, Oseikrom as
many of the indigenous folks prefer to call Kumasi ,
is also known to several others in and outside the shores of Ghana simply as
the Garden City of West Africa.
Often
touted as the food basket to the economy of Ghana , one does not need a whole
bank in his pocket to survive, especially nightlife in Oseikrom. All that maybe
required is some few notes of Ghana cedis to carry you around, and be able to
buy a bottle of drink or two, a good sense of bargaining and a geographical
knowledge of all the pleasurable joints or pubs.
Trust
my word, armed with this powerful piece of information, your quest to make the
best out of the night shall always be greeted with a 21 gun salute. But need I
remind you, it’s always a worth telling tale in the making, experiencing life
after 5pm in the City.
What
makes nightlife here exceptionally interesting is the unique ambiance which
prevails over almost every community, distinguishing one from the other.
Talk
about Krofrom, Ashtown, Amakom and Asafo, and someone will quickly whisper into
your ears that these towns never sleep amidst the every night fun galore.
Bantama
High Street, also Florida, where weekend relaxation is a ritual, is well noted
for its array of open pubs and spots with each few meters away from the other,
but still attracts substantial number of patrons who party from dawn to dusk.
Adum,
which is time and again cited as the business hub of Kumasi incredibly harbors
quite a number of drinking spots and pubs which often exist to operate only in
the night. Dayame, Ahodwo, Ridge Residential Areas, just to mention but few can
best be described as a haven for the host of luxurious hotels which exists
there to accommodate any living soul provided your pocket fits the bill.
For
such a world that exists in the night in Kumasi, the maxim that your pocket
determines how entertaining cities can be has very little bearing here. The
streets are littered with food vendors selling delicacies of all kinds from ‘ampesi’,
‘waakye’, ‘banku’, ‘tee-z’, ‘emo tuo’ , ‘hausa coco’ and what have you to cater
for merry-makers, travelers and other night traders who operate all kinds of
businesses in the evenings.
Soccer
houses and game centers’ have now lost grounds to pubs and drinking spots who
have introduced giant screens to lure soccer loving fans to watch live matches
of their foreign teams.
By
just buying a bottle of drink, one’s ticket is automatically booked to enjoy
all the football matches to be played for the night.
On
such sporting nights, business activities boom for ‘khebab’ sellers who usually
have on their menu every animal from four legs to two, i.e. guinea fowl, cow,
gizzard, sausage, sheep, goat and chicken. They provide their service in front
of pubs and spots all throughout the period of the football matches at whatever
prices you can afford.
To
get a proper perspective of nightlife in Oseikrom, just a little away from the
typical business nature of the Ashanti people, hold your breath and let me give
you a quick rundown of where to find rendition of all sort.
Just
to cruise with live band every weekend and enjoy quality foreign wine, drive to
Dayame, and you will never look back to your heartrending moments.
If
you have second thoughts, and want to know where the new breeze of relaxation
of Oseikrom is felt, with live band music from Monday through to the weekend,
and to be treated to a variety of food and drinks, bring your gear to reverse
and carefully after, adjust it to second gear, and just about 200 meters from
Ahodwo Roundabout lies a host of spots ready to treat you to a perfect art of
easing your boredom.
For
a perfect remedy to condition the mind to relax, distress and ease off the
pressure, manipulate the gear once more, this time around to third gear and let
the speed gauge read between 30 to 50km/h and drive through around town to
Amass Gate Staduim, Amakom Roundabout, Patase Estate, Asafo, Oforikrom, name
the rest and you will never regret you did.
Loathe
them or like them, but the self styled business tycoons would always treat you
to a mêlée of affluence. They cruise around either with a friend’s car or
rented cars and would not leave your scenes without being a party to the every
night jamboree that goes around in the neighborhood.
As for the ‘Hamburg borgers’ who occasionally
fly down home from their base abroad to cool off their busy European life, every
night is best described as a rollercoaster one.