Why I Started Writing
(by Kofi Sasraku)
There are moments in every society when the public conversation feels thin, when the loudest voices drown out the most important questions. In Ghana, I have felt that tension all my adult life. The gap between what people say publicly and what they discuss privately is often wide. Our politics is passionate but selective. Our history is long but unevenly remembered. Our economic debates are noisy but rarely rooted in continuity.
And somewhere along that line, I realised that commentary was not just an act of analysis. It was an act of service.
I have lived between two worlds, born in the UK, raised in Accra, educated at the University of Ghana and later at the London School of Economics. That dual perspective has always given me a sense of both distance and closeness. Ghana is home, yet I have learned to look at it with the clarity that comes from stepping outside its rhythm.
I write for three reasons.
1. To bring memory back into our national conversation
Ghana has an extraordinary political history, but we often revisit it episodically. Our debates lose context because they lose chronology. We treat today’s problems as if they emerged fresh, disconnected from a long lineage of leadership choices.
When I write, I try to restore continuity:
How yesterday becomes today, how today shapes tomorrow.
2. To fill the gap between public opinion and honest reflection
We are a passionate people, but passion alone doesn’t build nations.
I write to offer reflection, not reaction.
Not everything requires outrage.
Not everything requires applause.
Some things require thinking.
3. To create a bridge between Ghana and the world
Living between Ghana and the UK has taught me that identity is not fixed. It shifts, expands and adapts. My writing sits in that space between home and abroad, between memory and observation, between the everyday and the global.
And so, this publication exists.
Not to shout.
Not to divide.
But to think, remember and question.
If even one reader pauses and sees Ghana or themselves with new clarity, then the work is worth it.