It was Saturday and I decided to continue with my travels to see new places. What came to mind was the Zenga Crocodile pond in Paga. So in the company of my work colleague, we made our way to Paga. The journey to Paga was smooth sailing and after approximately 45mins we made our way to the crocodile pond.
Upon arrival to the tourist site, there were no tourists neither were there members of the community in the area.
A few meters away from the visitors lounge turned hen coop stood a middle aged man looking worried, he talked to himself severally. His posture appeared as if he was having an exchange with someone but no one was around him. We got closer and realized that was Salifu Awewozem, one of the tour guides for the Zenga crocodile pond. I have met Salifu on several occasions and he always looked cheerful but this time, I could tell Salifu was worried.
We exchanged pleasantries and made the purpose of our visit known to him. He warmly received us and after a brief history of the site, he ‘dragged’ us with him to the pond where he made a hissing sound that brought the second oldest crocodile and other younger ones out.
After a few pictures with the animals and some other questions to quench our curiosity, we decided to leave for another site. Although Salifu wore a smile on his face due to our visit, he was still worried, so he confided in us.
“My brothers, I won the regional tour guide of the year 2016 and that qualified me for the national which I won too but my worry is, when I was called to Accra, I was not given transportation neither was I given accommodation so when I got to Accra, I got stranded because I called the Tourism board who were the organizers of the awards scheme and they could not give me accommodation. I had to beg some people before I perched in their house until I went for the program with the hope that the anomaly would have been rectified on the day of the awards but no it was not fixed”.
He further said: “I only had 250 cedis in my account and had to go and take everything from the account in order to get to Accra for the award. In Accra, although I won the award, I was not given anything to complement the award but just the plaque.”
“On my return journey, I had to beg people for funds in Accra before I got my transportation fare back to Paga. My brother, I got stranded in Accra for days before I was able to gather enough funds to carry me back to Paga.”
What has compounded Salifu’s worry is the fact that Chief, elders, and residents of his community are of the view that he was given ‘something’ apart from the plaque but has refused to give that ‘something’ to the community although he represented them at the awards.
He explains that it has brought about the lack of trust in him and although he continuously explains to them that the award comes with nothing, they do not trust him and that has made his stay in the community unbearable.
“The chiefs and the people think that I was given some money and other things for the award but that is not the case, I was not even provided with accommodation and had to perch but if I explain, they think I am lying because a national award should certainly come with something,” he said looking worried a community that once trust him had lost that trust in him.
Last year’s Ghana Tourism Awards was organised with the theme: “Advancing the gains of tourism through quality service delivery”, however, with Salifu’s experience, it is clear that although the tourism authority has advanced its gains in foreign exchange and revenue for the country, it still has deficiency with its service delivery.
Been awarded for your work is an honour every worker relishes because it gives an indication that your work is been recognized by people watching, however, to Salifu, the award has not honoured him but rather has made him suffer the pain of been stranded in Accra, begging for money for transportation and losing the trust of the very people who believed in him.
By: Offei-Akoto Ayeh/a1radioonline.com/Ghana
