Episode 156

If Britain had a Legion of Honour like France, our guest this week would be in the front ranks of it. Instead, we've had to make him a Lord, which is a pretty poor substitute. He has literally risen from homelessness on the streets to being Baron Bird of Notting Hill. In between, he founded the Big Issue, which has just published its 1,236th issue. He speaks out with no fear or favor on all kinds of issues, but homelessness remains his number one concern, and this week we are happy to make him feel at home aboard Sputnik.

And Ghana at the time of independence from Britain was led by one of the greatest of all African leaders, Kwame Nkrumah. Since then it's been frankly downhill (although I did have a soft spot for the half Scottish Jerry Rawlings). But you've got to hand it to Ghana – they do generally have free and fair elections and nobody has to fight their way into power. And the same has just happened recently, as the opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo takes on the premiership. Joining Sputnik this week to discuss what it all means is Jonathan Offei-Ansah, founder and publisher of Africa Briefing.

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