“Dear Simpa Panyin . . . I am a regular reader of your page, and l would like to commend you for your hard stand against national looters and corruption. This spirited posture has informed my decision to write to you, and I trust you give my message some attention.
Last year, my wife, Mrs. Juliet Dei, who completed her National Service in 2016 decided to follow due process to enroll through NABCO, but midway through the process, she had to abandon the plan due to some circumstances beyond her control. Strangely, my wife who did not even complete the NABCO application process, and who was not assigned to any state institution, is receiving monthly allowances from NABCO, a situation we find very worrying. My wife and I are unemployed, but we still wish to return the monies she has received in her account to the state.
However, our fears are that my wife might not be the only person in the NABCO programme receiving allowances for no work done. We believe this leakage will not help the national course, and we wish our story becomes the reason for that to stop.
But we have another fear; we believe that if we go straight to the NABCO Secretariat to report the problem, someone may, out of greed, cover their inefficiency by diverting my wife’s money to ensure that another wrong person gets it, and this might defeat our purpose for renouncing the money. In view of these, we need Simpa Panyin’s help so that my wife can return the money safely to the state coffers in a manner that will help the programme to block further leakages.
Our current position as husband and wife who are without jobs is tempting enough to use the monies paid to my wife. But we are prepared to stand by the truth at all times and to do the right things for God and Ghana. Your assistance to get the above objectives achieved will greatly be appreciated and it will go a long way in your drive to fight corruption”.
The above is a message I received from Desmond Twumasi, a reader of Simpa Panyin. His wife, Mrs. Juliet Dei, received free money from NABCO. In spite of being unemployed and having an unemployed husband, she and her husband decided not to take the money, but rather return it to the state.
By the way, I sought permission from Desmond before this article was published.
There have been several instances that I have felt that there was no point continuing this column, because it seems to make no impact. Instead of stopping to glorify thieves in church, we rather give them the front seats all the time. I have written profusely on road accidents, but we keep facing worst road crashes. I have written about wrong policing, but we keep seeing worst policing day in and day out. I have asked several times if it is worth the several hours I spend on Wednesdays writing one Simpa Panyin after the other. But messages such as the one from Desmond help to keep me hopeful that a day may come when it will all make sense.
A couple of months before Desmond’s message, a lady friend of mine (call her Thelma) asked if I knew of anyone at NABCO. Of course, I know the head of the programme – Dr. Ibrahim Anyars. Dr. Anyars and I were students’ leadership contemporaries. He became the General-Secretary for the All Africa Students Union (AASU) when I was the Programs Officer of the National Union of Ghanaian Students (NUGS).
I wondered why Thelma asked me to connect her to anyone I knew at NABCO. I tried to know exactly what she wanted the NABCO connection for, but she was adamant each time I raised the issue. I was worried to know more because just a few weeks ago, I learnt that amongst a recent Fire Service recruits was a heavily pregnant woman who has been receiving allowances for several months without having ever gone through the Fire Service training.
After receiving the message from Desmond, I decided to do my own checks as to why Thelma was so desperately looking for connections at NABCO. My curiosity drew me to a conclusion that she knew of friends who were receiving free NABCO allowances, and she regretted that she did not fill the NABCO application forms when they were advertised.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a call from a long-time friend (call her Mercy). She needed a favour from me for her cousin. Unfortunately, I could not be of help as what she was asking for was beyond me. In the course of the conversation, it turned out that Mercy’s cousin is a beneficiary of the free NABCO money. Like the case of Desmond’s wife, Mercy’s cousin only completed the NABCO application forms, but he neither attended any training nor an interview.
This week, I don’t want to write too much of my own opinion. I only wish to celebrate the courage of my friend, Desmond Twumasi and his wife, Juliet Dei. There are two things that could be very embarrassing to a new husband – when the man is unable to achieve erection, and when the man is unable to provide for the home. So I can understand the miracle that came the way of Desmond. It could have been to them as if the God of wonders had proved himself faithful, by bringing NABCO closer to their home – free money, in the meantime, to a couple that is unemployed.
But the couple gave meaning to what the Bible said that all things are permissible, but not all things are desirable. Desmond, you and your wife have shown that we still have a few more friends of the nation around. You are the reason I have hope, and you are the reason I will continue to have faith in God.
I hope that someone at NABCO is going to take steps to prevent more of Mrs. Juliet Dei from receiving ‘nuisance’ monies into their accounts. And may Juliet’s story inspire us to look into all those vulnerable agencies that give ‘free money’ to people. Sometimes, it is just too despairing!
But still, the battle is the Lord’s!
By James Kofi Annan