Some pubs in Tema on the night of December 31, 2023, lost their business as most patrons chose church auditoriums over cracking the bottles.
The Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Watch Night Monitoring Team observed that while some pubs were totally empty and chairs and tables were left unoccupied, others had a few patrons.
At about 00:10 on New Year’s Day, the GNA noted that Starbite at Tema was totally empty with a television on being watched by waiters and other staff.
The story was not different at Estherose and other pubs around the Community Eight area.
At T-Havana, in Tema Community 9, a few people were spotted enjoying drinks with kheebabs and grilled guinea fowl, while many tables were empty.
Meanwhile, churches in the same area had large numbers of people attending watch night services.
At the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the Redemption Congregation at Tema Community and the Light House Chapel had their auditoriums overflowing, leading to an extension of the service to their forecourt to accommodate the annual churchgoers.
At the Methodist Church in Tema Community 8, the service was moved from the auditorium to a park to make room for all attendees.