It's been a little over 7 years since I started writing about Kwaku Doe. From first talking about him in my Plight of a Hungry Man series to finally naming him and continuing the series as Kwaku Doe, I'd say I've spent a little over 2 years writing about him. The last time I wrote anything on Kwaku Doe was in 2013.
The main reason I stopped is I changed the route I use to work, so I wasn't encountering him anymore. The other reason is I sort of lost interest in him.
Well, last Friday, I was driving when some guy with locks came to my car at this traffic light asking for money. I shook my head and was about to look away when I thought there was something familiar about the guy. He had locks and a goatee (almost all grey), but there was no mistaking this person.
KWAKU DOE!
And he was begging at a traffic light on the other side of town, far from where I used to see him.
So, if I started writing about him 7 years ago, my brother and I encountered him 4 years before I started writing about him, that means he has been begging for 11 years. Of course it would be well over 11 years (I'm sure the day my brother and I encountered him 11 years ago wasn't day 1 on the job for him).
There are people in Ghana who live solely on alms? Like forever? They never work? Able bodied people?
He was true to the Kwaku Doe I got to know 7 years ago though. His locks were neat, his goatee was well trimmed and shaped and as usual his clothes were tidy.
We all can't be professional writers; we all can't have our own newspaper columns. This right here is my space. I get to be my own writer and editor and everyone else will just have to settle to be my critic.
