In the mid-1980s, a Ghanaian expert, in his mid or late 50s surprised us at Ardhi University when he imported a brand-new Mercedes-Benz. Whoever owned a car at that time, he or she owned a ramshackle, a second-hand car which was very much run down. Such cars were referred to in Kiswahili as “mkweche”, or “spana mkononi”.
The Professor argued that since he was getting old and would soon retire, that Mercedes-Benz was likely to be the last vehicle he ever buys. So, he wanted to go for the best that there was. He wanted to a grand finale in his car ownership career.
