32 years of my life abroad has been a waste – Frankfurt-based Ghanaian

A Ghanaian pensioner who is based in Frankfurt, Germany, has shared his regrets about travelling abroad.

The man, who is known as Expensive Joe, recalled that though he was his own boss back in Accra due to his skills as a shoemaker and a carpenter, he was not allowed to utilize that in Germany.

Speaking to Zion Felix in an interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Expensive Joe added that, in his opinion, his life would have been better if he had been allowed to use such skills.

“I travelled to Nigeria and Libya and finally settled in Frankfurt in 1991. We normally don’t say it, but if I am to speak for myself, I will it is the wasted years of my life. Travelling abroad didn’t help me. I was a shoemaker and carpenter back in Ghana. I was my own boss back in Accra.

“But when I came to Germany, I couldn’t make use of my skills because the system here is different. I believe if I had been given that chance, I would have made fortunes while I was here,” he explained.

Touching on his family, he reiterated that he was also not fortunate with women, as he has suffered 2 divorces – from a German woman who removed her womb, and from a Ghanaian woman he sponsored abroad.

“About family, my first wife, who was a German, told me she had removed her womb so she divorced me after 3 years. After that, I brought a Ghanaian woman here. She came with her 2-year-old child. We had 2 children later together. However, we have been divorced for almost 10 years now,” he said.

Even though he is being taken care of by the German government, Expensive Joe advised young Ghanaians to think deeply about travelling overseas for greener pastures.

“Now I am a pensioner, but my first child is 21 years. I am not working at the moment, so I am being taken care of by the government. I will advise young people to really take their time. If you have the money to travel, it would be proper to stay and work in Ghana with that,” he advised.