When Stephen Husbands left Barbados 16 years ago, he never had any idea that he would end up in Ghana.
In fact, Husbands says he never had a clue that he would be managing the second largest hotel in Ghana, The Golden Tulip.
Now in the role of general manager, a role he has played for the last two-and-a-half years, the 38-year-old has hosted some of the most prominent people in Africa, including Ashanti King Osei Tutu II, past Ghanaian presidents John Kufuor and Jerry Rawlings, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Kofi Annan.
“As the GM of the hotel, as long as there are dignitaries, I get to travel with them, meet and greet them. All the ministers in Ghana, the presidents and vice-presidents, the Minister of Finance – most of them stay at this hotel,” he said as he spoke of the sprawling 206-room hotel, packed with conference facilities for 1 500 delegates, leisure facilities, and large park grounds for recreation.
Lived in St Thomas
The former Alleyne School student, who is originally from Welchman Hall, St Thomas, where most family members still reside, says it was love that led him to leave his country.
He followed his wife to Britain, where they had a baby boy, now 14 years old, and settled down as a family.
“If anyone was to ask me if this is where I thought I would be today, the answer would be no. I originally started working with the chain four years ago as a director of finance.
“When they sent me here to Ghana, it was originally just to open this hotel, but then they asked me to stay on in the capacity as GM. It was never my ambition to become a GM in Ghana, but I always wanted to see Africa, and so the whole prospect of working here posed a good challenge and gave me the opportunity to be a part of something new, so I was happy to take up the challenge once the opportunity presented,” he said.
Husbands, who always had a love for Africa, speaks very fondly of Ghana.
“It’s very much like Barbados in the early to late 80s, but it’s developing at a very fast rate. It’s the second biggest producer of gold in the world, it’s the biggest producer of cocoa and timber and just recently they struck oil and that goes into production this year,” he stated.
“There are a lot of highly educated people, but still a lot of poverty as well. While Barbados has nearly 300 000, the population here is about 23 million,so this very little to compare. Ghana is a traditional nation extending from family to music and culture… but there are lots of traditional laws and in every region there is a king.
“They make their own rules . . . so when it comes to ownership of land, all that is done through traditional law, where the king has all control and he distributes it accordingly.”
In fact, he noted the “African movies” were not very far from reality.
All that withstanding, like any Barbadian living overseas, Husbands often misses home, and misses his 14-year-old son, who resides with his mum in London.
“Being away from my son is very difficult, so now that he’s showing a keen interest in Barbados and having his education there, I need to be with him. I’m thinking about returning home soon. It’s not in concrete, but I will explore the possibilities,” he stated.
He said, however, the hotel chain had more big plans for Ghana and hoped to open five more hotels over the next ten years.