"If you kill a thousand, you must kill a thousand more."

I have decided that Kumasi is now one of my favourite cities in the world. Unlike Accra, Kumasi actually feels like what one would expect a colonially significant, West African city to be: noisy, cramped, energetic, historical. As the seat of the Ashanti empire, Kumasi is by no means lacking in tradition and history--a tour around the Kumasi fort will yield countless pictures of the Anglo-Ashanti wars, the Gold Coast Regiments of WWI and WWII, scenes of struggle and regality. It's a place that's hard to describe, but you can certainly feel that there is something special about it. Even today, with modern democracy, Kumasi holds strongly to its historical Ashanti roots, with the King of the Ashantis (the Asantehene) being one of the most recognizable national figures. Hopefully I'll be back in Kumasi next weekend for the once-in-six-weeks Adae festival, where all the chiefs in Ashanti Region (and even beyond) come to Kumasi in their full regalia to bring tribute to the Asantehene: apparently there's a lot of kente majesty, dancing, drumming and goat slaughtering. Should be fun. Except for the goats, that is.

Continuing on the politics line, Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti Region, is the stronghold of the New Patriotic Party, who lost the elections to the National Democratic Congress. Though things are starting to change, the NPP has historically been associated with the Ashanti region and ethnic group. On the six-hour STC bus ride up to Kumasi, I found myself caught in between opposing sides of a rather heated political debate literally between one side of the bus and the other. STC bus rides are typically loud, either because of screaming Nigerian movies or the radio at full blast, with a mixed arrangement of hip hop, Nigerian pop and American country. This time, however, the driver made the critical mistake of turning on a political radio program, which pitted politicians from both parties in a debate about, I think, Ghanaian citizenship (i.e. how does one become a citizen? economic activities/taxation of the diaspora, etc.). The argument was half Twi, half English, so it is possible they were talking about something entirely different. But a lively bus ride, nonetheless.

Kumasi is home to two famous institutions: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Kumasi Asante Kotoko (perennial soccer champions). This past trip, I had the chance to visit both. My university-campus experience here in Ghana has largely been confined to Legon and University of Cape Coast, so I was definitely happy to see the third part of the triumvirate. Billing themselves as the premier science and technology university of West Africa, "Tech", as everyone in Kumasi calls it, has produced many of Ghana's finest scientists, engineers and leaders across many different fields. Founded in 1961 by, you guessed it, Kwame Nkrumah, Tech already has quite the history, complete with intra-university rivalries.

I find it quite interesting that these big three universities in Ghana follow a residential system similar to that of Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, wherein students are assigned to particular halls (aka colleges or houses) and loyalties to one's hall (Harvard's houses, for instance, consist of Lowell and 12 others) run just as deep as loyalty to the school itself. Well, maybe more to the halls. I toured Tech with a Kumasi-based colleague, and he described the history behind the various halls, sporting such names as Unity, Continental and Republic. I think my favourite rivalry was that between Unity Hall and another hall popularly known as Katanga. Made me wonder if secession was a big problem over there. But, yes ,the Katanga residents do have the reputation for being pranksters.

Tech is also quite interesting for its arts school, which trains artists from all over Ghana, who then sell their crafts at places such as the National Cultural Centre in Kumasi (highly recommended) or at various locations in Accra. My favourite part of the Tech arts school was the makeshift sculpture garden displaying various works in progress. Most works showcased a decidedly African theme, revolving around pan-African unity, tribal royalty and so forth. Here are some fun pictures, all shot with the prime 35:

The Tech Main Gate. Note that it is shaped like an Ashanti stool.

The Organisation of African Unity.

Point Taken.

[I can't think of a title for this one. And so begins the first Out of West Africa caption contest. Winner gets a free subscription to this blog or something. Losers get outlines of my future papers.]

Our turn to eat yet?

Focus on Africa.

The Dedication.


The other highlight from Kumasi was watching Kumasi Asante Kotoko play Kpando Hearts of Lions in the Ghana Sports Writers Cup. Kotoko is probably the most popular team in all of Ghana, and it is very likely that every other taxi you pick up in Ghana will sport a Kotoko flag. My Kumasi colleague explained to me that Kotoko had a rather interesting, warlike motto (the title of this post) that stemmed from Ashanti folklore. Basically, if you are terrible enough to kill a thousand people, you better stay on your guard because a thousand people from the village will come hunt you down, so then you have to kill them. And so forth. Until you get tired. In other words, stop at 999. Rather violent motto to have, no? Hearts of Lions ended up winning the match, much to my surprise, but luckily we didn't see anyone carrying out this motto after the match.

Before the match, the stadium jumbo screen displayed the Chelsea match, a team that might actually be more popular in Ghana than Kotoko given the fact that Michael Essien plays for them. It took me a few minutes to figure out why people were jumping up and screaming when there was clearly no one on the actual soccer pitch. Ah, yes, Essien and Lampard on the screen. Makes sense.

Chelsea scores.

The other cool thing that happened to me last week was that I got to fly back from Kumasi to Accra! I have to say I'm a bit of an aviation enthusiast, and this CityLink Saab 340, perhaps my third flight in a prop-jet, provided no shortage of fun. Thirty-five minute plane ride versus seven hours on a bumpy bus? And they served sandwiches. Heaven.

Saab 340 at Kumasi Airport.