Mnemonic: A system which assists in remembering something, making use of encoding and visual cues. Of Greek origin – mnemonika; from mnemon ‘mindful’, relating to the power of memory.
Oxford Dictionary
…ethnicity, politics, time and development; shrouded in the sanctity of founding, stands the century-old Kenkey House, eight feet off the Abokyi street in East Legon, Accra, in a peri-urban oasis of the city. A relic from time in stills, as the rurality shrinks in the face of the gentrified urban; mnemonic…
The house affectionately called Kenkey House – which serves as a symbolic reference to the founding of Abokyiman for many of the community’s inhabitants – was commissioned and built by Nii Adjei Tsuru and his kinsmen when he moved there from Okponglo, 2.5 km away on the establishment of an air force base for British and American soldiers. Nii Adjei Tsuru was the first settler of La lineage in the Abokyiman community at the beginning of the 20th century, who moved there from La on the coast, primarily to farm. On arrival, they met the Abokyi people and constructed a well. Built on the undeveloped savanna land with sparse vegetation as a fort for the family, the house served as the nucleus from which the La indigenes in the Abotsiman community evolved. The house has been passed down over three generations to the current head, Jaabi, the daughter of Adjei Tsuru’s first son, Ataa Okpotsi I.
The eight-room, 212-m2 house, facing northwest towards the Abokyi street, formerly a path, was constructed with thick adobe walls (with an average width of 375mm and an average height of 2750mm) at roof level and rendered in masonry plaster. The roof framing, which consists of hardwood trunks with an average diameter of 140mm, supports the aluminum roofing sheets in a direct rafter roofing system. The thick walls were constructed to protect the inhabitants from wild animals and stray bullets during World War as American and British soldiers plied the Abokyi street, then a footpath leading to the air force base which was located at what is now the site of Airport Residential.
The .45-m2 window openings were kept to a minimum and predominantly located on the southwestern façade, with two small openings located to either side of the entrance. The rooms, built around a central, 100-m2 courtyard, are occupied by ten inhabitants, eight of which are Nii Ajei’s descendents. The other two, a mother and child, rent space in a room just outside where the mother, a fruit seller, mounts a table to trade. The rear-flanking rooms from the entryway serve as sleeping areas with an occupancy of four people per room, while the rooms to the side serve as storage spaces, although one has been deserted due to collapsed walls. A recessed space enclosed by a cloth and the adjoining walls serves as the bathroom. The courtyard functions as a cooking and storage area for the sale of items such as kenkey, charcoal, kerosene, yam and noodles, which is the main source of livelihood for the inhabitants. The house entryway serves as the point of trade with a kiosk setup. Some items such as kenkey and charcoal are sold from within the courtyard. A semi-formal living space is organized around a radio set in the bedroom corridor, which also serves as storage space.
The entryway to the courtyard is placed away from the southwest in order to redirect the harsh Harmattan winds. The kitchen, located towards the northeast, away from the predominant wind direction, directs soot away from the sleeping areas towards the entrance, which is evident from the dark, soot-covered timber framing and aluminum roof. The sleeping areas to the southwest, facing the predominant wind direction, away from the Abokyi street, depict the passive mentality: incorporating existing environmental conditions to achieve ambience in the generated layout of the house are also evident in the general orientation of buildings within the community to either side of the Abokyi street.
The firewood for the tripod stove used for cooking is stored and dried naturally behind the house. The charred walls to the rear of the house depict years of burning, either of the wood used for fuel or for the combustible waste. Sewage from bathroom is drained off between the house and the adjacent courtyard into a dead corner where the buildings share the wall facing northeast.
The courtyard has played a central role in the development of the community, with new buildings that can be traced down through bloodlines of Adjei Tsuru and the La community, members of which who became major custodians of the lands after the Abokyi people left the community. The organization of the community around the house is evident in the placement of the communal social spaces. The community meeting place used to occupy the plot of land across the Abokyi street from the courtyard. It was center of activities ranging from funerals to major social functions, as well as where children played in the dull hours of the day. The place had become associated with memories in which Christmas huts were set up and the older generation sat to while away time. As the space was given off to private homes, the communal meeting place has moved to the open space nearest to the Kenkey House. It functions as a multifunctional space where activities of daily life occur, from washing clothes to playing board games. The naturally ventilated, shaded area is cleaned by the children who frequently play there.
…In a space owned by pots and pans, clothes on the line, shoes between the roofs. Smoke rises to the sound of the hungry knock on the door. Corn, more corn, fish and charcoal. Jaabi is posed gallantly at the gate…
The kitchen placed at the center of the courtyard reiterates its central theme of house activities and livelihood. The functions of the kitchen spill out to every part of the house, right from delivery, storage, and sale. The direct entry into the kitchen on approach places it as the point of social interaction between the people. Kenkey, a delicacy of the Ga ethnic group, the primary item on sale, after which Kenkey House is coined, indicates some of the cultural influence of the La community on their current Abokyiman settlement. A room to the rear belonging to Nii Ajei Tsuru is regarded as the spiritual gateway of the house, from where traditional rites such as libation are carried out to the ancestors and which is placed at the helm of privacy within the courtyard. The courtyard and the adjacent rooms are kept very much private, with access restricted only to family members. The rented space is only accessible from outside, with its access to the courtyard closed off.
…As the dying rays of the sun shine fiercely through the gaps between the smoke-charred kitchen roof and the broken front facade, the scene harks back to 1923, when the family had been gathered as they are now to celebrate the last living child, the last surviving buildings; whose fate lies uncertain, but maybe down to the highest bidder…
