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Adieu! Your Excellency
“It’s been a very stressful job but I have enjoyed it. I do not wish to come back here again. I think I have been able to fulfill the mission statement”.
With these three frank and succinct sentences my interview with Ghana’s number one man in the United Kingdom, a capital chap, a man who seemingly would not suffer fools gladly came to an end.
In a way he had summarized everything I had wanted to know nicely for me. His words were clear and confident. He did not beat about the bush. He seemed to know and meant every word spoken, and with those words, carefully chosen and stressed upon, he revealed the inner pride and satisfaction of a man who had not been beaten down by the vagaries of his daily day job.
But when he said he would not wish to do this beat again I got worried, not for him though. In hindsight, one might think, ‘what is he talking about? Isn’t he the guy who’s been lording it up in a flash 7-series BMW limo, going to all this glitzy dos in town, meeting up with the Queen, Presidents, Prime Ministers, top dignitaries and opportunists? Isn’t he the one who lives in that mansion where the red, gold and green flag twirls in the breezy wintry atmosphere of avenue Inn-gar-land with servants and aides all paid up by struggling Ghana? Isn’t he the guy we see occasionally in the Ghanaian magazines and newspapers here in the UK always wearing a colourful bow tie and a happy smile to match, unlike the rest of us hustlers? Isn’t he the man who comes across as having no worries at all, seems to have it all, and appears to love us hustlers and his job immensely? Why then does he shy away from coming back if he was ever asked to come again? WHY?
As I walked away from his magnificent office in Belgravia Square, the “I do not wish to come back here again,” echoed through my mind like a passing empty tube train that does not stop at its station.
Isn’t that a betrayal of the immense support he had received from Ghanaians here? But again, his other statements also ricocheted through my mind’s mind.
He’s a fair man, I concluded as I snaked my way through the avenues of Knightsbridge to my humble abode at Crouch End.
Yet still I could not understand why he sounded so disillusioned with the idea of coming to represent Ghanaians here again. What have the people done to scare him away? May be, it is not their fault. May be he has his own reasons. May be not. But the man says, “I think I have been able to fulfill my mission here”. “At the start of my tenure I was given instructions and I believe I have achieved them”, he says.
Dear reader, the man is H.E. Isaac Osei, Ghana’s outgoing High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
On 27th September 2001 he walked into the heavily ‘mahoganied’ décor of number 13 Belgravia Square as the successor to Mr. Aggrey-Orleans, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK then; an enviable assignment for a 48-year-old man who had all his glory days ahead of him.
As a young information intern at the United Nations Information Centre here in London myself, I remember seeing an impressionable, charming and placid new ambassador of my dear country who looked a bit jittery and yet to come to terms with his new job, when I invited him to attend the annual UN day celebration in December 2001.
He looked as young and fresh and enthusiastic as my recent interview with him was, except there are more gray patches on his head now.
I could see then in 2001 a man who was ambitious and had great ideas for his work. I could see he loved and enjoyed every bit to have been posted on this assignment. Now, in 2006, I have again met with a man who is still very ambitious. But the down side is he’s not so sure if he would love to come back to this assignment.
Why? What has gone wrong? What are the lows of his tenure here? Mr. Osei says, “I cannot understand Ghanaians here”. He wonders why Ghanaians in the UK do not patronize the embassy yet whenever they get into trouble they expect everything from them. He says, “The major problem is for people to come and register their names and addresses”.
He says this is a simple requirement that has huge benefits and consequences. For
example, if you do not make yourself known to them or make any next of kin known to them then you may not get the necessary help to which you are entitled should something go round.
Other challenges that he has had to deal with, apart from the usual diplomatic and international affairs, and of course, immigration and drug trafficking are that of money laundering, people carrying third party passports, and general ignorance of some Ghanaians. He said, “It’s a simple rule that you do not carry more than £10,000.00 pounds on your person. Yet people do it and get caught … they create problems”.
He said there are a lot of things that some Ghanaians here in the UK do to embarrass the country greatly and those should desist from such.
Although there have been real problems and high hurdles on his path, the 54-year-old ambassador who takes over as the new chief executive of Ghana Cocoa Board is going home an accomplished and satisfied man.
He says, “We have done things differently. We have been able to bring Ghanaians together to assist the ongoing development of Ghana”. “I have addressed a lot of concerns. I have participated in a lot of Ghanaian activities. And I have held surgery days every Thursday”, he referred to proudly.
One of his major achievements is his role in the realization of dual citizenship for Ghanaians, an issue that has seen previous governments docking.
He is also proud he has helped shortened both passport delivery and visa processing times.
His Excellency Isaac Osei says the highest point in his tenure is the way Ghana embraced PM Tony Blair’s visit to the country and President Kuffour’s visit here and also to the G8 Summit. He is proud of Ghanaian businesses in the UK and of how a lot of people are doing well to transform themselves.
During his tenure he has seen the grand component of British aid to Ghana increase and witnessed one of the good bilateral relationships Ghana could ever have with the British.
With all these achievements plus other unsung highs, why does he still have people who think he’s done nothing at all”. Kojo Z. Fleming in Liverpool says,” He’s only a London man. He has done nothing at all for those of us who live outside London”. In a deep but somber voice he added, “Adieu, ad infinitum. I wont miss him a wink”.
Akuba Asmah of Bent Oak, North West London has a different view. She too like my friend Kojo cannot care less about who comes or goes as Ghana’s High Commissioner. She sees the embassy as a no go area and a place for “arrogant and …. (Words even I cannot quote here in my column)
Despite these remarks, His Excellency Isaac Osei goes home with an unscathed record. He is a man well loved and highly respected by a cross-section of Ghanaians here in the UK. A number of people I have spoken to speak highly of him.
One director of a UK institution yours truly spoke with in an unrelated conversation refered to him as competent and effective. The director who has dealt with the previous commissioner before said, “This one seems to be the type Ghana needs here”.
Well, too late to say that anyway, because by the time you read this piece, he might be getting used to the lot of cocoa farmers in Ghana whose confidence he might have to court now.
In my estimation, he has been a young man with no foreign affairs or diplomatic experience who had been posted on a difficult assignment like the UK, who came to do a better job, serving his country well, gaining a lot of respect and experience and knowing that he would not want to come back here again.
If I were you reading I would worry about the impressions we have left with him as Ghanaians and Africans living here in the UK. Have your lives and actions made it easier for him to represent you? Think about it!
Anyway, adieu, Your Excellency! Good luck in your next day job.
Editors note: We want to wish Mr. Isaac Osei and his wife Mrs Marian Osei the best of luck. They have been a powerful source of encouragement for this
newspaper. Come back soon, possibly. African Echo will in the future also have chats with other High commissioners and Ambassadors of other African countries to find out about whether their are happy or sad in cold London.
We however wait to hear from the embassies. It is sad to note that the
opportunity we threw to them to feature their various countries FREE OF CHARGE has had only one country responding. The offer is still there. We wait.
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