Minister Arranges for Tourists to Meet Castle Ghosts

The Tourism Minister has announced that Cape Coast and Elmina Castles will remain open until 10 p.m. under Ghana’s 24-hour economy, giving visitors enough darkness to meet the people government forgot to include in the tour brochure. Daytime guests will receive history from guides; evening guests may receive it directly from whoever is still walking the corridors.

Under the new heritage package, tourists can book a standard tour or wait until the building begins introducing itself. The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board will manage appointments, although punctuality cannot be guaranteed because some expected hosts have been waiting centuries. Visitors are advised to arrive quietly, keep cameras ready and avoid asking any apparition whether the 24-hour economy includes overtime.

The arrangement expands tourism without constructing a new attraction. Government merely turns off the sun and lets the existing history report for duty. Cape Coast and Elmina can now offer architecture, education and the possibility that a locked door remembers more than the guidebook. By extending tours to 10 p.m., the Minister has not made the castles operate for twenty-four hours. She has simply arranged for tourists to meet the shift that begins when living staff go home.

This is satire. The source story is real; the conclusions have been faithfully misinterpreted.