Fatherland

Uncle Owusu; the sad truth

A True Story

The real-life story of Uncle Owusu, after living in the UK for 38 years and at the age of 71, finally relocated to Ghana this year—to live in his 6-bedroom mansion which took him nine years to complete.

Now in Ghana and his mansion, Uncle Owusu lives in the living room of his house while his caretaker lives upstairs in his master bedroom. Because Uncle Owusu cannot climb the stairs without the help of another person —it will take him 15 minutes to make the climb.

As such, Uncle Owusu decided to stay downstairs of his mansion (in the living room) as all six bedrooms were upstairs. The house has a living room, toilet, and kitchen downstairs, three rooms on the first floor, and another 3 (including the master bedroom) on the second floor.

Not how Uncle Owusu anticipated his retirement. But that is the reality of his journey. Yet, this will be the life of so many of us.

The lives of many other Africans living abroad building mansions back home without caring about their old age.

If you are building a dream house for yourself to live in and by age fifty years and the house is not done might as well forget it.

Uncle Owusu almost wasted 38 years of his life doing menial jobs abroad, hoping for his retirement back home in his Mansion and enjoying life. Now, he has no life; to enjoy. Someone is enjoying his Mansion.

How is this life and the great retirement?

The solution is to take mini-retirements and enjoy your life and luxury now.

Like most aged persons, Uncle Owusu is unable to even enjoy a bottle of malt beverage at his age—because that will shoot his sugar level up. Yet, he said he was working hard all his life to enjoy his best life which included eating and drinking the finest when he retires. Now, he only eats salads—and even that, without dressing. He can't chew on any of the product lines of the finest meat out there without his cholesterol sending him warning signs.

So, how is this life and the great retirement?