Potpourri

I have mind-wrested to translate the meaning of today’s headline as ‘’Mpoto-mpoto’’, at its bottom line. Language purists should pardon the apparent wildness. Mpoto-mpoto is more of a palp, cooked. And it is to be very nutritious; and serves a veritable variety among our eating menu or better technically, gourmet. The contents are depen­dent on choice but there is always an ardent striving to ensure the consumer, especially that it feeds fully well the consumer plus with all, as much as possibly could af­ford; and for all of its flaunted and meritorious ingredients in every department of obtainable nutri­tional values for children, espe­cially. It is all local farm products for mostly breakfast in particular. The ultimate sense is to enable the Kids stand up to hunger before or closed from school at noon. Some or all parents would today wish it to last till supper, a diktat of the economic hardship, being hoped to be easing studiously from the IMF’s $3 billion bail, not so hailed because the generality of the country reacts unimpressed. The drag-back is the idea of a so-called ‘’NEW HEADMASTER’’ to oversee its management. I shall place any remarks of mine later to jump into what-why this piece is a potpourri.

The issues are co-related in short and long shots. I admit it’s one of my wayward ways to stress your thinking the links, holding back few remarks about the bail­out in abeyance to create space on discourse about phenomena we have shrugged and complained un­der shirt and Kaba sleeves. This is about the increasing harassments of handset telephone fraudsters. For brevity, I shall self-advisedly relay that the average of public opinion concurs in the view alleg­ing that there are inside syndicates connections, suggestively accusing apparent collusion. I have written recently the caller-numbers start with ‘’+25 sub-slugged as ’un­known’ ‘’. Latterly, they are head­ing any of the several series with both the regular sub-‘’unknown’’ but Ghanaian first names—male or female ‘Efia, Angela, Joe and Kwame’’ with new funny ones and contorted institutional establish­ments, schools and offices. Unfor­tunately, the challenge here is the calls come via the Teleco-systems here; whereby also after blocking suspect, a new serial number calls seconds after responding to a known, meaningful.

The frustrations from com­plaining are [i] it takes both patience of Saints and courage of Martyrs to get responses from officially designated lines; and if one gets through for ever once, the respondent has this following recitation: ‘’what is your number [isn’t there you wonder]? How can I help you’’? after laying your problem, the reply is led by vehement ‘’denial’’; and then you are asked to call out the number[s] of the suspect scammer[s]; then [ii] you are informed: ‘’we are investigating plus rare politeness, if any, ‘’we shall get back to you.’’ Shortly after that you receive fresh calls with new serials. I like to believe the NCA and Ministry of Comms are aware. I should leave it at that. The foregoing to rob another, not caring for years, 70s, until tiny aberrations creep into becoming hideous. Our usual attitudes are either shout per official warn­ings which include what’s now a derisive scarecrow to punish— even after the arrests of some too clever by half because the populist view is with laughter recommend a consoling: ‘’forget.’’

Quel dommage or what a pity or not, there are two arguments in the vein of a once-famed French philosophic thought. Each is valid; but as opposites, they end making the same point: if there is an arrest, it shall have to be proven. The other side is when all the events conclusively lead all the circumstantial evidence to the arrest; and proof is obvious. I have often wondered it is precisely comparable or indeed equal with the THREE CRUCIAL TESTS in journalism to publish. The significant proviso is to proof beyond ‘all reasonable doubt’ that: [a] there is a potential pandemic, or danger of small pox, or cholera; [b] some officiousness is covering up; and [c] justified efforts to reach out to authorised sources have failed or provenly blocked. And also, or, the law of audi alte­rem partem [listen to other party] prevails is a key injunction. There­fore, we arrive generally at ‘’for­get.’’ I remember an elder Ashanti Pioneer columnist friend Kwame Kese Adu’s ‘’did we go, or did we come.’’? Lest, I forget both as posthumous tribute and as classic historically are the cyanide-leakage from a Western region mine and boldest stand for truth vindicated for personal integrity in stoicism and independence and heroics of essentially, of the daring of Komla Dumor at Joy-FM during the Station’s embryonic growth into steady maturity, 2006/7. I might add the Ashanti Pioneer’s then earliest leading to Nigerian Justice Olumide Jibowu’s about corrup­tion in the CPP and government, reported 22 June 1962 and there one may equate with ‘’forget’’. I must explain we can trace politi­cal-protection and political-laissez faire, if yours is ruling or the Brits over Police Chief Emery who ordered shoot to kill Sgt Adjetey …1948 Christiansborg. This juncture enables bridging to the IMF’s outcome.

Founder President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah rejected go­ing to the IMF. Yet, the crises of the economy muted the protests. This country has since through the decades gone there with the latest, 17 times. President Nana Akufo-Addo did similarly earned nation-wide thunderous approval and resonates sarcastically today : ‘’yenkobo bosia biara, yete sika koko so na enso okom de yen [‘we are not going to borrow any mon­ey. Literally, we sit on gold; but we are hungry’]. Such had been his verbal fingerprints campaigns 2016/2020 . Presently, it is not the same resistance that is anymore. It’s rather the continuum compel­ling deeper reasoning.

Questions are: have we managed well and which are the ratios of underminers impeding –external, ideological –political and inher­ent economic schools; even how applicably suitable here. Take leaf from Prof Aryeetey’s, our post-indepen­dence initial faux pas, failure to rejig rather than ‘see-saw’ be­tween Manifes­toes, going back to ‘’Yentua’’ –‘we won’t pay, Head of State Col. I.K.Acheam­pong, preced­ed by’’Kafuor Didi’’—‘Debt­or must eat’ Prime Minister Prof Kofi Busia. All rela­tive to prices for our raw exports – primarily, cocoa, timber and wood; devaluation 14.5 percent July 1967 walked the corridors of revalua­tion to whacking 43.9 percent (27 Dec. 1971; the cedi’s worth relative to the US dollar–$0.55 from $0.98 ); And whether to wit, instructively now; priorly externally manipulat­ed –cocoa prices from Cheapside London against Nkrumah having proposed a West African cocoa Board to determine our prices as country-opposition howled at it, because:

[i] power struggle politics and we chorus-lulled ourselves, each side encased in unschooled com­petition of capitalism [DOMO] versus socialism [CPP] to be [ii] over-credulous of international Blocks’ promises, unperturbed, from NLC and Busia’s bitter dis­appointment re-negotiating, with 50 percent of two-year morato­rium due 1970/71, but supposed settled with breathers and lowered interests rate, 13 Mar. 1974, the debts inherited from the First Republic, through the NLC to follow-on Second Republic. From that same trap door, which gains and losses Rawlings’ structural adjustments jitters after the cur­rency mop up [Maj.Gen Odartey Wellington] to Omaboe’s paper currency changes’ and ripples running crab-walk infections for higher paper denominations cur­rent term and ante-Hippic with impacts on country, labour and industry, higher imports , lower production; and which lessons must, as opposed to could be learned to reconstruct the national socio—economy—contracts and sales of national assets Ghana Airways, Black Star shipping line and Presidential Yatch—.

Then, how we consciously separate from politics –a national separation policy, if you like. It is an idea few have advocated previously, resurgent to look at more seriously now for our benefit to be weaned from old and new Headmasters, we hate to love but have had to embrace. And last remark: how much we asked to maul the gap. A reference is how the $3 billion sits with BoG’s having dug $3.6 billion from the Reserves. A background is the Central Bank appears in retrospect had throughout impressed all was well, apparently. There is likely the position was taken for business ethics and in extenso not exacer­bate public panic. Finally, to public utilities—water and electricity.

Interpretively, there could be suggestion that the Services frustrate consumers. Narratives seem like it is their second nature, aggregating daily complaints. No one living in Mamprobi- Accra, has better experience. Crucial Siamese twin-point is the assump­tion made generally believable that NOBODY appears to care. It stretches to like years of same the two institutions stand allegedly neither communicate intents; or imminent water shut downs and lights interruptions. A defence to waterlog the convictions, is met with the accusatory ‘’it is from within’’, not dissimilar to the fraudsters which increasingly maraud personal phones coming through their circuits with panto­mime protests.

What’s left for hapless consumers is best illustrated by re­call of former country leader Col. Acheampong as ‘’Kalabule’’ was peaking in a take-or-leave-situation comparably during his tenure: ‘In Ghana today, everyone trips the other bits here and there and we go on mindless,’ disgusting. Any­way, mpoto mpoto is not distaste­ful. But our general responsibility attitude is veritably so—but who cares and ‘’on, on we go’’ as I re­call from one of early years school text book in English.

By Prof Nana Essilfie-conduah.