Friday 8 August 2014

GHANA: A LAND OF JOKERS?


OK, it is true. Whatever you’ve heard is the absolute truth.  Ghana, which two years ago, was touted as the model for Africa in terms of economic growth is now a wobbling old woman suffering from arthritis.
Whatever you’ve read or heard is true. Ghana’s economic performance is now a jaw dropping story. The 1st July ‘Middle Class’ demonstration (or the walk in the park as some describe or is it a keep fit exercise for some of these bourgeois?), recent Trade Union Congress demonstrations, POTAG and UTAG strikes, credit downgrading by FITCH from B to B-, rising inflation and the depreciation of the cedi despite the nation praying for the resurrection of the cedi confirms how the economy is bleeding. In all these, the government continues to assure the nation that, the country is in the challenging phase of her life (a la mid-life crises though we are 58 years old). No need to panic. Not yet though!



Redemption, well a shade of it, seems to lie at Washington, headquarters of International Monetary Fund (IMF) we are told. The government is there to seek ‘technical advice’ to compliment the ‘home grown solutions’ we have developed in our desperate attempt to salvage and improve the seemingly crippling economy.
Figures are being thrown at us by government functionaries as evidence that the economy is not dead (as the doom mongers speculate or wish) but on the floor, kicking her legs. Yes, figures don’t lie. But when the figures don’t really reflect in the pockets of the ordinary Ghanaian, then what are they? Figures we go chop?!
In the midst of all this gloom, Ghanaians have found a way(s) to laugh out loud at the present economic predicaments. Ghanaians have a sense of humour. An enviable one to be honest. Trust the Ghanaian to evoke his/her sense of humour even in the face of difficult circumstances. The Ghanaian has often made light of serious, national challenges like power rationing, corruption. In recent times, we’ve laughed at the disappearance of musician Castro and even Ebola.
I can’t tell at what point this sense of humour became part of the Ghanaian persona. I’m tempted to believe that such humour -induced -serious criticisms make an impact on the society, in terms of getting those in power to act than the usual highly charged, combative, testosterone-filled and combative discourse that often fill our TVs and radios.
I recall Kweku Sintim-Misa’s (KSM) radio show, Talk Shop years ago where he spoke in an uncharitable manner on national issues, chiding political office holders for being incompetent and not working for the development of Ghana and Ghanaians being cowards for not holding leaders accountable for their stewardship. Later on, KSM began his satirical show where he, through humour, spoke frankly about social and political issues in Ghana.

The show is/was patronized by the big shot in society, who laughed at some of the issues KSM was relentlessly jarring about on radio. I am sure once the laughter had waned, the big shot sat to think about the issues raised and how to deal with it.

The Ghanaian sense of humour was on full display on August, 1 when BBC Africa asked Ghanaians who have been affected by economic problems to share stories via photos on social media platform twitter. It was simply ridiculous. 
The responses caused some people on twitter to question the seriousness of Ghanaians since the question by BBC Africa was to generate and provoke serious discussion on a serious issue that affect the economy of Ghana and the ordinary Ghanaian. According to this school of thought, Ghanaians jest too much with very serious and sensitive issues and our leaders have recognized this and have joined the jokers’ circus; toying with the future of the country. (Find some of the responses after the post)

Others held the opinion that in the ‘jokes’ lies a very deep and real facts on the ground. The photos might induce laughter but then again, it will drum home the message in a subtle way.  That is, such modes get the message across than the antagonistic, highly charged debates or demonstrations. The dire economic situation shouldn’t prevent Ghanaians from having ‘fun’.


 The question still remains: DO GHANAIANS JOKE TOO MUCH WITH SERIOUS ISSUES? IS IT THE REASON WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE TODAY IN TERMS OF DEVELOPMENT?
There have been a lot of demonstrations in Africa precipitated by economic difficulties. The Arab Spring was inspired by economic reasons. Same was the case in Senegal. As my Fante people will quickly tell you, ‘fa bi y3 sere wo’, to wit life shouldn’t be too serious. Sometimes you need to laugh off some of the hardships. Ghanaians seems to have found a way of demonstrating their displeasure at serious happenings through humour.  

That’s the Ghanaian for you I guess!!

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7 comments:

  1. Unknown8 August 2014 at 09:08

    Coping mechanism. We are all frustrated, we all are on the verge of throwing up our hands but we decide to hold on to the glimmer of hope that all will be well soon. How long do we have to wait? Your guess is as good as mine. In as much as we joke to survive, the leaders need not miss the underlying messages and work!

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    1. swaye kidd8 August 2014 at 09:30

      well said. when the laughing stops we must get to work. here, it seems the joke goes on for too long which ultimately affect us all.

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  2. kwaku Ananse8 August 2014 at 09:09

    Well said bro. Our country is very sick yet we see no effort by our leadership to help avert the problem. I hope things get better. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. swaye kidd8 August 2014 at 09:32

      Thanks for reading. I hope same. Ghana must work again. As citizens we must keep those in power in check and not wait for the next elections to teach them a lesson.

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  3. Unknown8 August 2014 at 10:13

    Well said bro. I like your points. well done

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  4. Efo Dela8 August 2014 at 15:56

    I came to accept a long time ago that government and its machines are never going to help us. Nothing they do is in our best interest.
    We can either be angry and bitter or laugh and move on. Most people chose the later. It's how we cope with things. That doesn't mean we don't care. We do a lot.

    The problem with the BBC thing on twitter is they asked for pictures. How exactly do you show pictures of suffering? Right from there, they set themselves up for sarcastic replies.

    Take Aljazeera's #AJStream the next day. People took that very serious. It was a discussion and people gave it the seriousness it required.

    Yeah we are jokers but that doesn't mean we are jokes

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    1. swaye kidd11 August 2014 at 08:26

      i agree solidly with your point especially the last one. we try to find the joke in most things. the problem usually is when to end the joke.

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