I ought to confess ab initio, [initially] a cardinal credo [belief] among only a paucity led by I am a stoic incorrigible Roman Catholic to state that accuracy is less exotic without a degree of reality, however incongruous. Some have spoken eloquently and others written copiously about president Nana Akufo-Addo’s ‘’sika mpe dede’’. Literally, it is that ‘money dislikes noise’. Actually, that comes from an old common usage in our mores by our ancestry’s anecdotes.
It is essentially a caution; but could befog application and demean, interpreted within a particular context. There is no guessing the President’s has—perhaps inadvertently. Money per se creates noise, subtly and coarsely to the extreme extent of ‘beggar my neighbor-innuendo’.
Au contraire, ‘’sika ye dede’’ – money is noisy to a din. Much of which interpretation to fit depends on the background and indeed the momentary circumstance(s). The President addressed the nation tele-wise 30 Oct.2022. The pre-publicity had put the country on tip-toe expectancy to be informed about plans to relief hardship and calm the wide-spreading unhappiness.
He admitted the economy is in dire straits. He said: ‘’We are in a crisis; I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find example in history…. For us in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty.…. We are all in this together; and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana …’’
He then ranged wide over intents to restore—imports substitutions, tighter management of the fallen Cedi, locating alternate affordable fuel, argued against comparisons to justify rising prices. But he added, I think frankly, the sine qua non to ‘exotic truth’ that the stets and cuts and up-coming raft of reviews for economies ‘’when successful, coupled with a stable currency, will halt’’ fuel prices-escalation ‘’and bring relief to us all.’’—very conditional and highly hopeful speculation.
This renders any tangible responses to turning the situation with a seeming no way out into opportunities, which he earnestly urged, resting in the bosom of how the uncertainties pan out. It could be anything: one fell swoop, drizzle or lie in the hands of what he described as ‘’so many malevolent forces’’ which have simultaneously collaborated to distress this country to ‘’Nth’
For that anonymity I take comparison in what were called the ‘’Gnomes of Zurich’’ as the plain causal contributor, at the time of the Labour government’s pound sterling on the edge of a crash. [it affected us (Ghana) on its own and worse, after the first military Junta, the NLC devalued the Cedi 30% (8 July 1967) following Britain’s earlier November 14.5 percent. The NLC said ours was overdue due to Nkrumah’s stubborn resistance.
In sum up, I am going back years, ante-‘67 to Bob Hope, a giant US comedian singing ‘’devaluation gives a blow…the cost living is gone up so high …what is vexing on my is the dollar is too hard to find.’’ You may reconstruct it to suit.
Events from the Thursday 27 Oct. 2022 before the broadcast appeared to have given this country another unprecedented which was the prescriptions advised by former President John Dramani Mahama.
The novelty in that was in our politics since independence, every opposition was supposed to be intended to [a] find nothing good in what the government did; and [b] working to bring down the government. The PDA and the criminal libel law were the tools of the CPP to clobber dissent –First Republic.
Variations on the same themes have been deployed. I should, from the chronology, state that real co-operation politically for good of country, has been the scarcest in governance throughout. Coupled with that estrangement makes the economy and its retardation into somewhat nullity to be constructive about from the opposition of the day; and would look secondary or discarded.
Thus, oppositions have turns tended to concentrate on flashy criticism. Sad to state all know that strong political leadership in any country depends on co-operation in good faith; because they are the elements which cushion governance, especially relative to political and economic policies in kind of agreed diversity to differ in modus operandi for growth in steady and or progressive development.
That could be one of explanations for the enthusiasm which the JDM props received countrywide. The norms previously were [i] an opposition was never as freely go out with suggestions towards resolving a national weariness. It never was except holding them to their chests, ready to accuse the political opponent for clothes stealing; as if the other side neither could think on the same wavelength nor [ii] are forbidden.
Contents of that sortie would seem to have pulled this country back from despair in despondency. The package had no absolutes and there had been others with familiar rings expressed since the deterioration started.
Yet coming from that angle was kind of an ‘’extreme- unction’’ rarely administered in Roman Catholicism when a situation, health at threadbare and hung-on to life in particular, is hopelessly on the brink of punto finale—death.
One would have thought a mere acknowledgement of that input was possible. Psychologically the mood of the country trended that expectation even wryly. But apparent no reference must have dried the suggestion to feel there was a new political dawn, smashed for ‘’me (or us) alone.;’
It is likely to have negated public eagerness to wave flags, very crucial at this point ‘’asking for your support to rescue Ghana’’ as the President called.
The rift widens and I thought the text struck reasonably positive far and few in our political struggles in the history to merit changed concerns. But at mute, as happened, was natural, it seems conclusively to exacerbate simmering public anger’s chorus of dissatisfaction held in conditional abeyance.
This too, should have diluted disaffection. Indeed, frozen or out of memories at that time, prior to the nation’s waiting for reliefs with soothing assurances, were the ‘’Wuton driver has lost his way (Rawlings’ jab at Prof Atta Mills); ‘’we are not going borrow—no need going to the IMF’’ (candidate then, 2016 campaign); and the lyrics of ‘pop’ song altered ‘Mahama begye steer no o’2017/18, reportedly insinuations against President Akufo-Addo].
And the President for excellent credits to him, is remembered for declaring in such unprecedented statesmanlike honesty [‘’Ballots 2012/16’’] that he was not looking to be President to loot but ‘to protect the public purse’ because he has his….
We all understand to feel that hardship hits persons in degrees of force. It is either a roll on or nightmare and or in-between. The gamut of acknowledgement raised public profound respect of him, undoubtedly. All of these seem to be part of the public reckoning, unfavorable.
Also, it was clear that not even general positives from the speech as to what can be and was going to be concrete interventions ad interim to hunt for solid clues, would trigger negative attitudes which could re-ignite disappointment-backlash to forward-wind faster whispers that he must go into the open.
Has that a historical reference apart from Britain to leave and give us our independence which we have mercilessly messed; and or the joke but seriously ‘’Yankee go home’’ at a certain time here, years back. It used to be trivia but all these are eloquent testimony of the harms in either ‘’first past the post (50+1) or the ‘winner takes all’ which breeds the syndrome of positions without appropriate skills or know-how as critical personnel audit criteria.
Its popular name: Jobs for the boys or foot soldiers.
I am momentarily shelving the bits more on the stand-out controversy from the presidential address’ malaprop to let in historical backgrounds between 1951 and October 2022 into next and beyond, hopefully, mais peut etre [but perhaps].
TO BE CONTINUED
