(The slaughterhouses of hell in Ghana)
Every morning, from the top of my hotel, I can see thick, black smoke rising in the distance. I learn that this place on the seafront, a stone’s throw from James Town, is none other than the ‘Boday’ slaughterhouses.
As soon as I arrived, I sensed that I was not welcome. I was asked to leave. We’re in a place that’s not very glamorous, dark and hidden from view, but which is nonetheless essential for feeding the capital’s Ghanaians. Many animals are kept here. Here, the animals are slaughtered and all the meat (goats, cattle, sheep, pigs) is cooked with tyres, then washed and sold at Accra’s London market. The meat is then washed and sold at Accra’s London market. The tyres are used to cook the meat very thoroughly, removing the animal’s hair and cooking the meat very quickly. This saves time and money, as wood and charcoal are much more expensive in Accra.
In this inferno, immersed in the black fumes of the tyres, I try to capture a few images retracing the activity of these shadowy workers.
Christian Barbé September 2023
Slaughterhouses from hell in Ghana