Solar eclipse in Ghana: and it came to pass

Poem

It was a wednesday

March 29, 2006.

It was a magnificent day

In the true sense of the word

And it happened!

2006 solar eclipse

And it happened!

Scientists predicted it

And it happened!

Philosophers foresaw

And it happened!

The mystics knew beforehand

And it happened!

Oh, Divine Intelligence!

The Universal Mind!

How omnipotent are You!

How omniscient You are!

And how mysterious are your ways!

You are supreme

Glory be to your name

Now and always!

by Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

March 29, 2006, Accra

When a total solar eclipse was experienced in Ghana

(Characteristic)

The solar eclipse in Ghana was truly spectacular! The day was very bright. The tropical sun was dominating when the invading moon came to block its surface without hesitation.

It happened as the scientists predicted. It was almost close to perfection. The scientists indicated that it would occur between 08:30 and 093 UT.

However, at 7.30 am GMT in some parts of the country, especially in the western region, about 400 km west of the capital Accra, the lunar journey through the solar path had started in Ghana.

In the capital of Ghana itself, the magical movement was detected around 7.45 in the morning. That was the precise moment this writer first noticed the event with the solar eclipse glasses, purchased for that purpose.

The long-awaited eclipse of the sun and its resulting anxiety and excitement was no longer speculation. It happened on 03/29/06 in Ghana, where it started as their gateway to Africa.

Dozens of excited, enthusiastic and happy citizens saw the phenomenon across the country.

By the time Ghanaians were enjoying the sight of the heavenly romance between the sun and the moon with the planet earth acting as an eyewitness, a few other selected African countries were also experiencing the memorable event.

Those other nations include Benin, Nigeria, Niger, and Togo, all in West Africa; Egypt and Libya in North Africa and Chad in Central Africa.

The event attracted scientists and tourists from all over the world who flocked to Ghana to witness a unique event in a century.

Records show that the last time a total solar eclipse occurred in Ghana was in 1947. There was no television at that time in the country. Therefore, in the next 50 years, when the miracle is expected to happen again, our children’s children would have the privilege of seeing what we saw today thanks to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

Interestingly, virtually all hotels in six of the ten regions of the country where the total eclipse was experienced were booked in advance. The regions included Greater Accra, the east, the center, the Volta, and the west. The rest of the Regions experienced what was characterized as a ‘partial eclipse’.

Along the country’s coast, some highlands offered unique locations such as hills or mountain tops, in towns such as Anomabo in the Central Region, McCarthy Hill in Greater Accra, Shai Hills, and Aburi Hills in the Eastern Region of the country.

Tourists who came to Ghana enjoyed the blue sky and experienced the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality that would be etched in their storehouse of memory forever and ever. (Can anybody say amen?)

In some hotels, for example, special programs of drums and traditional dances were organized to entertain tourists while they observed and took pictures of the natural phenomenon.

“Oh Africa is full of natural beauty of beauties,” some of them exclaimed. In fact, some first-time visitors to Africa never dreamed that apart from the usual wars and famine scenes that foreign media always associated with the continent, there could be such magnificent natural wonders to behold in Africa.

In Accra, the usual crowded streets were deserted. The workers abandoned their desks for once and ran out of their offices to experience the romantic relationship of the two heavenly bodies.

And exactly at 9:10 am, when the moon managed to block the view of its higher astral sister, the sun, a siren sounded in Accra to alert the public that some miracle was about to occur and that it was really happening. There were some fanatical religious elements in the country who called themselves “prophets”, they had the audacity to challenge the scientists that the solar eclipse would occur only on their corpses.

The multi-colored flames of the fireworks decorated the skies of the city. There was an extraordinary blissful breeze coming from the Atlantic Ocean that has been bombarding the shores of Ghana since creation was manifested.

The atmosphere instantly changed to that of the autumn season in Europe. It was fantastic and sublime, the mix of day and night together, it was indicative of some divine engineering work.

Then a mini night fell all day long! As humans enjoyed the scene and applauded in admiration for the mysterious nature of the Supreme Being, some poor birds and other creatures of the animal kingdom were thrown into a kind of semi-confusion.

I saw a lone vulture atop a nearby apartment building that had no choice but to go to bed prematurely. Oh, Nature, how wonderful you are, how magnificent you are and how beautiful is your creation!

This is how the total solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 occurred in Ghana. And it happened.

Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

Ghanaian journalist and poet

Accra, Ghana.

(An eyewitness account of the memorable event. It is set to happen again in Ghana 37 years from now. Where will I be then?)

blog: http: //www.nyansah.blogspot.com