Native Daughter: Of ‘chopping Ghana small’ and ‘chopping’ Ghana big

Ajoa Yeboah-Afari Features Oct - 10 - 2014 , 00:00

Surely, ‘Ebola’, a word that has the capacity to evoke instant terror, is not an affliction anybody would wish on their known enemy. So what would make somebody put an Ebola curse on some people they have never even met?

Well, I will come to that later; the answer relates to an overheard remark.

Although my memory is hazy about the details, I recall that years ago an Asian visitor aroused the anger of many Ghanaians and captured media headlines for saying “we’re chopping Ghana small”. Apparently it was not said out of malice or disrespect; just a light-hearted if somewhat thoughtless comment about having a good time.

However, if my memory, or my understanding of the incident, is inaccurate, I invite readers who have the facts about that controversy of long ago to kindly correct me.

Anyway, in recent times, the expression “chopping Ghana small” has resurfaced in my mind, with each astounding revelation about corruption, how some people put in positions of trust are abusing that sacred responsibility.

It’s astonishing how these people have been ‘chopping’ Ghana with impunity, not small ‘chopping’, but BIG, MASSIVELY!

Maybe the better adjective would have been ‘gargantuan’, but I hesitate to use it because it is now a word that generates smiles and laughter – and the situation we’re in is no laughing matter.

The flood of revelations about theft, misappropriations and waste of public funds, each more shocking than the last, is clearly breeding bitterness against, and hatred of, political cronies, and office holders, smearing all of them.

These include: the reports about the excessive accommodation expenses of Ms Lauretta Lamptey, Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice; the outrageous sums spent on Ghana’s Brazil World Cup fiasco and the National Service Scheme (NSS) scandal. They are just a few of the latest heart-rending illustrations of the ‘chopping Ghana’ phenomenon.

The breathtaking brazenness of the alleged fraud at the NSS beats understanding. Ghost names on its payroll numbering 22, 612 must be a world record! And reportedly netting the clique “at least” a cool 7.9 million Ghana cedis in one month!

But, on the other hand, maybe their audacity is understandable. If the Director himself, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, the man supposed to be looking out for the taxpayers’ interest, was involved as has been alleged by the Bureau of National Investigations, why would other suspects worry about the colossal fraud against Ghana?

With these happenings, at a time the government owes many professionals and other groups their legitimate allowances and other entitlements, is it surprising if those who have been so accommodating lose patience with the government?

For example, the Daily Guide of October 3 reported that the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana has “threatened legal action against President Mahama if their book and research allowance is not paid.” The allowance has been in arrears for two years.

Justice Sir Dennis Adjei, President of the association, who gave the threat at the opening of the association’s 55th Annual General Meeting in Accra, also stated that magistrates and judges have not received salary increments for two years, despite the fuel price increases. Furthermore, although all public officials who use official vehicles are given fuel by the state, judges who also use official vehicles buy their own fuel.

He added that by tradition judges don’t talk about their remuneration, but it was now time for them to speak up.

Trades Union Congress Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Asamoah, is quoted by the Daily Graphic of September 26 as saying: “We suspect ... on the basis of information ... in the public domain, that the extent of malfeasance in the public sector is huge and reaching dangerous levels.”

When one contrasts what the average worker, and the average rural dweller, is going through in these hard times with the wicked misuse of state funds, one can understand people’s fury.

As indicated earlier, the other day, I was shocked by the venom in a remark I overheard. A store assistant, one of a group discussing the Brazil goings-on as well as some of the recent reports about misappropriations by some office holders, exclaimed: “How I wish the Ebola disease would wipe out all of them, those big people chopping our money!”

An extreme, terrible viewpoint, but it evidently reflects the mood in some quarters regarding the large-scale and shameless ‘chopping’ of Ghana.

Equally noteworthy is the general belief that because of their political connections, the ‘choppers’ usually escape punishment.

We wait for the sceptics to be proved wrong.