Vienna City :  Ghanaians 'rejoice' over tragic burning down of popular hangout

Vienna City, a popular entertainment center in Accra, was reported to have been gutted by fire on Thursday evening.

The news came as a shock to many who took to social media to express their surprise and show support for the patrons and owners of the center alike.

However, a rising nature of the conversation in social media circles about the fire, borders on a tone of relief and happiness, two emotions one would not readily associate with a tragedy.

One of such post was by the editor and owner of a popular Ghanaian tabloid, Chris Vincent-Agyapong, who shared a post on his Facebook wall, referring to the center as "Ghana's version of Sodom and Gomorrah".

Sodom and Gomorrah refers to two ancient Biblical cities, which were filled with all types of wickedness. The sins of the 'twins cities' were such that God's holiness demanded that Sodom and Gomorrah perish. Most people claim the main sin God razed down the place with fire and brimstone for, was homosexuality, but a school of thought believes this a deviation.

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Vienna City up in flames

By making a Biblical allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah with Vienna City, Chris Vincent both refers to Vienna City as a place equally filled with sin and also as a place equally destroyed by fire. His assertions are not exclusive to him.

Other users spoke about same manner, even before the fire. Most of them were however referring to the Vienna City center as a hotspot for ashawo, a local term for prostitutes.

But is/was Vienna City Accra a center for prostitutes?

play Is Vienna City a hub for prostitutes in Ghana? / For illustration purpose (GNA)

 

In 2011, the then Public Relation Officer of Vienna City, Diana Dartey stated categorically that Vienna City was not set up as a whorehouse. "I want to use this platform to clear the air. Vienna City is not a prostitute joint" she said. "The mere fact that it’s sited at Circle does not make it a prostitute joint… it is the location that has to do with it", she continued, blaming the location of the center, Nkrumah Circle, as the harbinger of the bad name that had come to be associated with the place.

The Kwame Nkrumah Circle had become synonymous with sex work after night fall in Accra. This area has a huge presence of police who spend time either harassing drivers or regulating the trade itself, even though it were supposed to be illegal.

So maybe Diana Dartey was right, it was the location that was creating a bad name for the center, but that doesn't seem to have resounded with these people and many more, who practically rejoiced over the razing  down of the center.

Prostitution, solicitation, pimping and running a brothel in Ghana still remains illegal.

— di'Jaymatic ✌ (@) 2013-07-22 14:22:09.0