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“Biribiara Wo Ne Mmerε” (Everything Has Its Time): Exploring Changing Perceptions of Transportation on Film from the Colonial Gold Coast to Contemporary Ghana

Abstract:Public perceptions and cinematic portrayals of Ghanaian passenger transportation vehicles and their drivers have undergone a massive transformation on film in the past fifty years. Colonial films depicted these vehicles as a symbol of modernity and drivers as cosmopolitan men, but contemporary Ghanaian popular culture portrays these vehicles and their drivers through a negative lens. This article uses ethnographic and archival data to explain why this shift occurred and its effects on the contemporary tro-tro industry. Portrayals of these vehicles have shifted because of a combination of historical, geographical, and social factors, including historical change, urbanization, proximity to corruption, the spread of HIV/AIDS, differences in rural settings, socioeconomic status, and perceptions of safety.