I sit and wonder a lot these days, wondering, as I should about whether or not Ghana will ever find its space in this chaotic and uncoordinated frenzy of fake news.
I believed a lot of stories I read this week, especially the one on the helicopters that could not be traced and then they could be traced. I totally believed the story of the millions of dollars choked through the bank accounts of the National Communications Authority even though the arithmetic did not add up and I was left wondering whether my senility was real or whether my arithmetic had become very suspect akin to the results of a Junior High School graduate.
I should be a bit more sceptical, I realise, but I also want to hear all the bad news about the scandals within the NDC community, that I am imbibing all the stories and wishing so passionately that they all somehow can be traced back to JDM and his family.
I am sure there is no smoke without the fire here and especially wanting to hear anything regarding the former First Lady, Lordina Mahama. I have heard so many stories regarding her role in major transactions; I am wondering where the media is looking.
The past eight years have seen a travesty of justice and the truth of the matter is, many are the Ghanaians who still cower behind the scenes for fear of being victimised by those whose wealth can still buy them some clout to cause mayhem and damage.
I am informally informed that the big fish will be roped in soon and I should wait for it. Someone has reassured me, that in a few weeks, if not days, we will all hear and read of something more explosive than our imaginations can conjure. Really?
Ghanaian minds, mine included, have become so expectant that we rake in any story, the wilder the better, and we want to see someone arrested and a speedy trial held and summary conviction passed without any challenge and tentativeness.
Surely there must be some Ghanaian big fish in the galamsey pond, whose greed cannot stay hidden in the murky waters any longer. There must be a galamsey kingpin ready to choke on the mercury and cyanide, painfully wishing that they would be dug out so they can pay their share of the stolen bullion and fly to Dubai to go and claim the balance.
There are players in Dubai, India and Switzerland who have majored their way to the top of the bullion stack and without too much effort have cornered a significant chunk of our gold reserves.
Did you read that we probably lost close to $7billion in revenue from illegal smuggling of gold? Difficult to believe we have such reserves? It was another of those stories I chose to believe because it glittered so much even though it was only in print. Despite the fact that many have confirmed to me, swearing on all kinds of deity that this is a verifiable story, I am yet to corroborate the figure with some hard numbers from the Minerals Commission.
But I am thinking it cannot be real. Our budget deficit in 2016 was close to GH¢1.7billion and change. That makes roughly $4billion. So what we are saying is if we trapped all that gold between the mines, whether small or large scale we would have shored up all the budget differences and some. That would have made room for more development, but alas some more chop chop NDC greedy bastards would have taken their cut,
I am still reeling from another story from the Ghana Standards Authority who set their own standard in corruption by taking a whopping $1.2million cut from a GH¢15.3million deal to build new laboratories and training blocks or something like that. Is it true? Because if it is, then you don’t need to ask why the contract was never delivered and why some persons are currently walking around with close to a million US$. And these persons are still swagging on the corridors of the bribery centers looking for more or covering up what they have taken.
I am thinking I probably made a mistake. I never understood why so many people I know don’t see much wrong with the politics of Ghana and the self-made contractor can find corners in the Ministry of Finance and of Trade, making gold and flying it in planes I have not even thought of owning in my lifetime. I am thinking I made a wrong judgement decision somewhere along the road to honesty.
But I kid a lot these days, because I have become helpless in pricking this corruption-bloated economy. So many of us want to see our efforts rewarded and culprits detained and made to suffer for all the transgressions. But I am as helpless as the Christians and Muslims of the Peace Council whose genuflection to their God do not seem to be striking down any of the thieves and vagabonds.
I am thinking we should stop the fasting and prayers and get into this matter with a little more tenacity. I recall how JDM called for three days of fasting and prayers in the run-up to the election on December 7th. It never worked. But maybe nobody fasted, because I don’t think even he found the belief to fast with his wife. So what happened, he lost and lost big time. The battle turned to the Lord to choose and he saw much more; greater than he JDM and Asiedu Nketia. Even Koku Anyidoho and Fiifi Kwetey.
But with still many more days to go, maybe a few decades, the NDC better pick itself up and dust off the lethargy. They should be planning how to fold up the party, because the people can still hear the corruption “vuvuzelas”, and what we thought was just stories in a campaign is now rearing its head from places we never even thought would leak stories from under the cover of the umbrella.
I am waiting to read Kwesi Botchway’s report on the verdict, which we have all already fathomed. It is running about five years late now isn’t it? I am thinking it will lay bare the “kokobu” of the pigeon perched at the top of the umbrella.
So with so much time on my hands, I now find that the quality of news and information is woefully poor. Helicopters are disappearing and returning to their hangars like homing pigeons returning to the nest after a long flight from wherever. I am thinking that if I am to depend on all I read and the fake news sector booming on Facebook, Whatsup and Twitter, do I even need to speculate on anything? The rumour mills are churning fancifully and the creative news is in a spin mainly because we had to create lots of content in the run up to the election showdown.
Britain is voting in a couple of weeks or less and I am thinking we have a lot to learn from the masters of democracy. We must watch how this plays out and together with the French vote, at least pick up some lessons in institutional structures that ensure smooth transitions from one group to the next. It would be interesting to see how it pans out should Theresa May lose this one, as Trump should have. We don’t need any more of these fringe groups destabilising the world in addition to what ISIS is doing.
Please let the world order return to sanity, I am thinking this week.
Ghana. Aha a y? d? papa. Alius valde week advenio. Another great week to come.
Sydney Casely-Hayford, thenewghanaian@gmail.com