I flew back to Ghana on 6th January. The Ghana International Airlines flight was about a third full and there was plenty of room to stretch out and move around. There were good views of the Sahara. It was dusk by the time we reached Accra and still 29 oC. This was a revision on the 32 oC threatened the crew en route, but still a big difference from the frosty -2 oC at Gatwick.

I was quickly through immigration and took a taxi to the Tema tro tro station. It was now the dying hours of the Kufuor presidency and the car radio was tuned to a programme discussing the news of presidential pardons. The run-off vote on 28 December produced the narrowest of victories for Professor John Evans Atta Mills and the NDC, with less than half a percentage point between him and the NPP. By midnight the NPP’s term would be over and the following afternoon Atta Mills would be sworn in as third President of the Fourth Republic in front of crowds in Independence Square.

I reached the tro station at 7 pm. There was one tro waiting and it was going to Koforidua. I boarded, bought an extra seat for my luggage and waited. The traders were packing up and the flickering lamps that illuminated their stalls were being extinguished. Nobody seemed interested in going to Koforidua. One man turned up with only half the fare and at eight a Ghanaian and his sister-in-law from overseas arrived. The couple paid for their seats and I paid for three more so that we could leave. It was so dark now it was hard to see the value of the notes in our hands.
I reached Koforidua at 10:15 and walked home. There was a noticeably subdued atmosphere about the place over the next couple of days. There was less music playing, less traffic and fewer people about. Eastern Region and Koforidua in particular strongly support the NPP. I talked to a number of people and they were all concerned that the NPP had not been returned for a third term, but they were trying to be positive. We will see what happens next.