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Kwasi   Kwarteng, Adam Afriyie and Sam Gyimah are the three MPs of Ghanaian heritage that spring to mind when I think of Ghanaians in Parliament..... not a group of men and women from my Motherland milling about metres from the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Portcullis House © losingitme.uk But that is exactly what The Ghana Society created when it organised 'Ghanaians in Parliament with London Mayoral candidates' at Portcullis House. Ghanaians from all walks of life rubbed shoulders with MPs and London Mayor hopefuls under the banner of forging stronger trading ties between Ghana and the UK.   Ghanaian connections Fittingly, the event - MCed by broadcaster Owusu Frimpong - was staged on Ghana Republic Day on 1 July and hosted by Kelvin Hopkins MP. Mr Hopkins has a long association with Ghana. He is also good friends with The Ghana Society UK founder Maria Ampah Lovell and it seems is something of a regular at Ghana's social events...

Although it is considered impolite to eavesdrop, the following conversation I overheard on my way home from work was enough to make me toy with the idea of taking the long route home instead of exiting at my usual stop. Cultural Map of Azani a © photographed by MisBeee Writes  Sitting to my right was a man - on his phone - who kept referring to Africa as Azania. And not only that, he was taking pains to explain to the caller on the other end that African unity was best achieved by applying pre-colonial pan-cultural ideals that were once prevalent across the continent. He also added that any plan to unify the continent that does not embrace the institutions of indigenous cultures is bound to be superficial and tenuous. Intriguing I thought and I wanted to find out more. What's in a name? Azania is not a word I'd ever come across before. But its use as a cultural term goes back to the 1950s when the Pan-Africanist movement, which called for unity among colonial ...