By Prof. Kwesi Yankah
The weather forecast this month may have dribbled our Meteo service and dashed hopes for a rainy month; but the downpour took a different turn: intermittent thunderstorms and a heavy downpour of dollars and cents in public space. Undoubtedly, Dollar Boys have been in town, splashing newly found treasure and compelling the local cedi to recoil in humility. ‘The world can indeed be sweet even if your belly is under probation,’ should be a new saying.
A local dollar scandal lately took over news portals and sent several job seekers looking for juicy positions that could yield pot bellies in the shortest possible time. The star of the show was our beloved Sammy, but the take home lesson has been painful: how not to appoint a whimpering child as your country’s Gold Boss. Baby Sammy fell flat on probation and ‘b-r-r-r-r-r,’ babbled with saliva all over his face. He underrated his office as a children’s playground and was compelled to offer a juvenile apology for the reckless display of dollars in public. JM, the President, fully accepted his apology virtually saying ‘Stay Put as the gold boss my child; boys abre.’ Sammy is indeed a brilliant chap that should be allowed to grow.
Despite the apology, a new dollar image has emerged on the landscape: the American green buck newly embossed with the face of our baby boy, saliva all over his face.
But the open display of opulence is not new; it has often happened on weekends and makes news only when the kind-hearted is an Honorable public officer. Better still if the cash is liberally sprayed or tossed serially. The last time a heavy downpour of cash made huge headlines was on the introduction of the ‘new’ 50 cedi note in the mid-1990s, when one public incident brought home the new cedi note in style. The star of the show was the then Minister for Agriculture, who instead of insecticide spray on cocoa, opted to copiously spray party faithful with crisp 50 cedi notes. Yet the heavy cedi downpour and public stampede for samples, also told you being a Minister could be a great source of prosperity, and succor for the needy.
At the end of the day, Ghana’s new 50 cedi note got a new name in the 90s: ‘Ibrahim Adams;’ in loving memory of the Honorable show boy.
Next major incident was 2015, and the Show Boy? Another Honorable. The then Minister for Roads and Highways. The respectable gentleman gave Ghana a glimpse down his wallet when he was invited to a public event to outdoor a new music album. The media headlines that day shifted from the song artist, to the unbridled exhibition of ministerial opulence, where Honorable serially sprayed big cedi notes on the lucky artist, causing fear and panic among tax payers. Since then, oral history does not even recollect the artist in question. The headline was the lavish road show by Honorable Minister for Roads and Highway, Inusah Fuseini, in accordance with his job description. The Minister’s explanation should be put on record though, that the art of spraying cash on artists, is a time honored tradition, except that Honorables in their own interest often avoid cedi notes popularly labelled as Vodaphone.
Spraying of cash took a dramatic turn a few months ago. A section of the Ghana police gave the world a peep into the police pay packet, when on Yohuno’s first day at work as IGP, he was baptized with showers of cedis triggered by jubilant officers. By so doing, our peace keeping friends unconsciously dropped hints of enjoying lucrative conditions of service; perhaps giving sound advice to the new President that any pay increase planned for the police could be suspended until further notice. But during the spraying of the Big Man, observers must have noticed the open scramble for flying cedi notes, many of which were successively arrested. We sincerely hope that all the arrested cedi notes have since been handed over to Osu Children’s Home, the nearest charity to the Police Headquarters.
But the public ‘Cash festival’ was awaiting the mother of all, which finally landed on the arrival of Dollar Boys. But Sammy’s Gold folly should be seen in a wider context. The 4year tenure of JM is bound to be considered too brief, indeed too short to make up for eight hungry years missed. And just in case another party comes with its own hungry people, what are we going to eat?.
Good Luck Sammy, and thank God for little mercies. But while in a mood for pardons, let JM extend similar goodwill to the suspended Chief Justice currently enduring a ‘secret’ trial. What is good for Sammy is also good for MUMMY.
kyankah@ashesi.edu.gh
