The gold in Kumase

In March 1957 the Gold Coast colony declared independence from Great Britain as the great nation of Ghana. People were understandably thrilled. Ghana was the first country in Sub-saharan Africa to declare independence from their European colonial master. The British had agreed to leave in peace, and were leaving behind a country with a huge potential. The future was all for Ghana there to take. 

Kumase is the second city of Ghana and main city of the Ashanti peoples; historically one of the most powerful nations of West Africa. The military Fort of Kumase would be transferred from the British military to the armed forces of the new nation; the Union Jack would be lowered one last time, to be replaced by the red-yellow-green flag, with a black star on its center, symbolizing African unity. 

The fort had been one of the most important military installations in the Gold Coast Colony. It was among other place here that the notorious Gold Coast regiment had been stationed. The fort had attained a legendary status for the British during the Ashanti uprising of 1900 (the so-called Yaa Asantewaa war, or the war for the Golden Stool). Then, thousand of brave Ashanti warriors had besieged the fort for months. Barely 50 British citizens (including the governor of the Gold Coast) and 800 refugees went through hunger and debacles, before being finally rescued by a British force. 

The last British officers on duty had their orders to facilitate a smooth transition to the newly established Ghanaian military, pack down all documents and items of importance. Most material was to be handed be handed over to the Ghanaians. The Ghanians were not completely aware of what this included, and although an inventory list had been provided by the British, this list was not complete. 

In a store-room in the fort, there were large quantities of Ashanti gold and other valuable objects of Ashanti culture. These items had been stoeln at different times during the Ashanti-British wars, mostly during the second Anglo-Ashanti war of 1874, when troops led by Sir Wolseley plundered and burned down Kumase. The British had been ordered to hand over the gold to the Ghanaians: to bring these items out of the country would be impossible under the given circumstances, and despite a long-history of plundering its colonies, British public opinion would be against to see that after so many years of colonial rule, the British took home the spoils of the newly independent country. No: The gold was to stay in the fort, and then the Ghanaians could dispose of it whichever way they wished. 

However, the gold was not included in the inventory list provided to the Ghanaians. 

The two British officers in charge of the handover were fond of their time in the Gold Coast; they were happy for the new nation, although a certain colonial nostalgia and military pride overtook them on the last day. But they had a job to do: they went through the inventory, including the valuable gold objects in the store-room. It had a large wooden door, which faced a small open space on the back-side of the fort. It had before been used to store ammunition. When the two officers were taking a last look at the room, they saw an old sign, from the time when the room had been used for the storage of ammunition: “Danger! Do Not Enter!”, it warned. 

As a final prank, the officers decided to put up the sign on the door. They smiled cheerfully as they thought of the surprise the Ghanaians would have when they carefully opened the door and found nothing dangerous, but instead beautiful artifacts of Ashanti culture. 

The transition went smoothly and the Ghanaians took over the fort. At first, they turned it into a miltary barack, and the fort eventually became the museum of the armed forces of Ghana. But the room was not opened: With other priorities on their mind, and a fear that they would not have the necessary expertise to handle the dangerous materials in the room, the Ghanaians dared not enter the room. It took 30 years before someone dared open the room, under very strict safety conditions, because a refurbishing of the museum was taking place. It must indeed have been a big surprise to find all this beautiful gold in there, just as the two officers had imagined. But did they smile thinking that their little prank took 30 years to be revealed?

I heard this story many years ago when visiting Kumase and the Armed Forces Museum there.  

A beautiful woman

I have never been good at meeting women. I am not good-looking; I am shy, and not particularly interesting. And I have learnt to distrust if am woman shows interest in me, because I cannot see why anyone would. This was not always the case, and perhaps a quite amusing situation that happened to me in the infamous city of Las Vegas some years ago, may be some of the cause for this healthy distrust of the female gender.

After having spent some days hiking at the Grand Canyon and spending a few days on the road between Las Vegas and Flagstaff, Arizona, I had a full day in Las Vegas, Nevada, before boarding a flight that would take me back to Caracas, Venezuela, where I was living at the time. Las Vegas is the city of sin, but besides my propensity for beer and football, I am not much of a sinner: I don't gamble, don't overly enjoy hard liquor, and not particularly attracted to the temptations of the flesh on offer in Las Vegas. I nevertheless wanted to see the place and glance at the immense variety of people visiting the city. Having seen the overwhelming natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas appeared as the perfect contrast of materialistic kitsch and extravaganza created by humans.

After checking into the Luxor Hotel and Casino (because it looks like a pyramid!) in the early morning, I spent the day walking casually up and down the "Strip", carrying a little bag with a map, water, my notebook, "The Economist"; I went into many of the enormous casinos, and enjoyed the discovery of a new place, even one as extravagant as Las Vegas. 

By early afternoon I walked into a huge mall, the "Miracle Mile", as I had promised someone in Venezuela to look for some clothes for her 2-year old daughter. I had just walked a few minutes when a gorgeous woman passed by me: big brown eyes that stood out more by the natural darkness around them. She had soft, shoulder-length brown hair, and a light brown skin with a light pottery colour, as soft as silk (as cliché-like as it may sound). She was a bit smaller than me, and although dressed conservatively, any man would have noticed a perfectly proportioned body. 

Even though I pretended not too, I could not help but glance at her as she walked by. Perhaps she felt my gaze; she looked straight at me... and smiled! A big, beautiful, honest smile! I smiled back, probably a silly, goofy, shy smile, and kept walking with a bit of extra confidence, happily thinking to myself: "People are so nice here in America! A smile like that from a woman like that will warm my heart for the rest of my life". 

I continued looking for baby clothes in the enormous mall, without luck (I may be the only person in the history of Las Vegas who went to Las Vegas, and spent time looking for baby clothes!). Half an hour later, I was walking by another part of the mall, and lo-and-behold, I saw the same woman just ahead of me! As I walked past her, she also saw me, and this time I smiled first, and she smiled back. I was just going to continue on my way, but she approached me: "Didn't I see you before?" 


"Yes", I said smiling, but also ready to move on. 


"Where are you from?", she said insistingly. 


"Denmark" 


"Really? I thought that maybe you were Hispanic" 


"Well, to tell the truth, I live in Venezuela", I said, now ready to talk more to her, not because I was particularly confident, but because she was being so friendly. 

"Oh! That is no nice!" she said with an apparently honest interest. 

"What do you do there?"

I always find this a difficult question: I am a boring public servant, there is nothing particularly interesting in what I do, and I am somewhat embarrassed to say it to people. 

"uhh… I… ooh… I work for my government...". I then quickly added: "And where are you from?" 


"I am from here", she said, still with that hypnotic smile, and looking me straight in the eyes in such a way that I could feel myself to start sweating. 

"Las Vegas?" 


"Well, I am originally from Georgia, but I live here" 


"I have good friends from Georgia!" 


"How nice! Have you been there?" 


"No…" 
I was still not sure what else to say, but she was insisting on the conversation. 


"Can I ask you something?" she said, somewhat mysteriously. 


"Yes" 


"You have such nice skin! Do you use anything for your skin…?" 


"uhhh… Noooo… Not really…." I said a bit taken aback by the question. 


"Can I show you something?" she said, taking my hand (and feeling her hand made me sweat even more) before I could say anything and leading  to a small stand, where she sat me on a stool. 

"What is your name?" 


"Erik", I said. "And you?" 


"I am Nathalie" she said smiling, and while she opened a can of cream, she asked me whether I was in Las Vegas alone. 


"Yes", I said. 


"Are you married?" 


"No", I said 


"You are kidding me! How come!?" she said, sounding truly surprised, but also with a teasing tone of flirtation. 


"Well… I don't know… I guess I travel a lot", I said, not really knowing what to say to all this interest and beauty. 

"That is so strange! You should come to live in America!" 


I had to smile at that. 

"Are you married?" 


For the first time she looked at me seriously: "I was" 


"I am sorry", I said.


"Don't be! He was an idiot!" she said, and I wondered how any man in their right mind could be an idiot to such a woman. 

While talking, she started to put some cream on my face, gently rubbing her hands against my chubby cheeks, and telling me how this cream could help my already beautiful skin. 

"I think you do not sleep a lot" 


"Yes", I said honestly, thinking of my frequent periods of insomnia. 


"I can see it. You should try to use this under your eyes", she said, and added some other cream under my eyes, as she told me I had beautiful eyes, and that I should promise her to use this creme. 

There is no doubt that Nathalie was a great saleswoman: I walked away from her with 350 USD worth of skin-products that I only used only occasionally when I remembered I had them, but most of all when I wanted to think of a beautiful woman who appeared interested in me, even if it was only for selling me something.

And that is the real story of my life!