The Parallel Economy

Last Thursday, in the balmy humidity of my cocoa farm, with only my thoughts  for company, I turned on the radio. In far away Accra, the Minister of Finance was reading the budget for the next fiscal.

Big impressive figures rolled off his tongue about our economy and I am sure that if I lived outside Ghana, I would have been impressed. Very impressed. The problem was that after 44 years here on earth, listening to his many predecessors from the NPP, PNDC, previous governments and previous decades, I couldn’t help wondering how totally detached the figures were from the economy I participated in.

You see, I have always been convinced that in Ghana we have had a two track economy. In other words a two tier economy. One economy for the rich few and the other economy for the poor many. I happened to belong to the bottom tier economy. Driving under the Tetteh Quarshie overpass, it hit me that the top tier economy was like a railroad of wealth, suspended above and well out of the reach of us in the bottom tier economy. We in the bottom economy could see the money circulating on the tracks above but try as we could, we could not participate in that economy. Occasionally, those on the railroad above us, would throw us a few scraps from the economy above and we would scramble for the scraps below.For me, poor but educated cocoa farmer from Breman Asikuma, the most important thing was that the impressive figures reeling off the Ministers tongue applied to the economy upstairs. GDP growth, reduction in inflation . . that couldn’t apply to us down here.

Lemme explain why. My cocoa trees nestle under the protective shade of numerous plantain trees. My cocoa of course get captured by the suits in Accra because I get paid with an Akuafo Cheque. Cocoa feeds the economy on the railtracks above so it was too important not to capture. Not so for the plantain under whose shade my cocoa nestles. Periodically I harvest my plantain and haul it to the roadside. On nominated days, trucks come from Accra, Assin Fosu, Swedru and Akyim Oda to purchase my plantain. I am paid cash for my plantain. The buyers do not issue a receipt, neither do they request an invoice for my plantain. There are millions of other farmers like me, repeating the same transaction for various food items, plantain, yams, cassava, tomatoes, garden eggs. I wonder how on earth these transactions can be captured accurately or even estimated accurately by those in suits or political suits in Accra. They can’t because these foodstuffs are part of the parallel economy running at ground level.

My Uncle in Germany sent me a Benz bus to use as a passenger bus between Asikuma and Mankessim. However this vehicle plies the route between my house and the workshop far more than it does the route to Mankessim. I spend a fortune buying parts and paying the fitter. The fitter does not give me an invoice and neither does he issue receipts. I multiply my Benz bus by the many passenger buses out there in Ghana and wonder how on earth these transactions could be captured or estimated by the suits or political suits sitting in their air conditioned offices and Land Cruisers in Accra. They can’t because these spare parts and fitters fees are part of the parallel economy running at ground level.

I nearly forgot to add that when the Benz bus was on its way to Ghana, my uncle sent me some Deutschemarks to use to pay for duty and clearing when it landed. He sent it through someone flying in, so I travelled to Accra and went to the Airport. As soon as I picked up the money, I walked down to the Airport roundabout and changed it into cedis. No receipt, no invoice, just pure cash. Come and capture this transaction Mr Economist. You can’t because it is part of the parallel economy. Meanwhile travel to South Africa and see if you can change a single dollar without producing your passport. Come to Cow Lane in Accra and the volumes of forex traded there will stun the suits.

I think if you have survived to this point in my monologue, then you are beginning to get my point. There is simply a category, a whole load of economic transactions that run parallel to the formal economy of this country. The suits are aware of this and I am sure that with the best intentions, they try to factor it into their calculations of the Gross Domestic Product and Inflation et al. But they can’t.

If we were in a court of law, their submissions or postulations would be thrown out of court for lack of hard evidence. In a similar but less drastic vein, I, the humble cocoa farmer from Breman Asikuma, will accept the budget from the esteemed Finance Minister, with a pinch of salt from the Songhor lagoon. Because when it comes to the parallel economy, they are simply not part of it. We are.

The Discriminatory Mindset

It takes a certain mindset to be able to tell someone that he or she cannot be a member of a club because it is reserved only for Caucasians.

The human mind is a very interesting and malleable creation. It is a bit like a computer. Basically what one allows in, determines what will come out. Basically, Garbage in, Garbage out. Every human being is born with the mental equivalent of a clean slate. As we grow, our mindsets are gradually moulded by our interaction with the outside world. Our parents, our peers, our society, our culture, our education and especially our experiences all come together to give each of us a unique mindset to call our own.

Mental garbage can be acquired gradually over a long period of time or quickly after an intensive session of garbage acquisition. It could very well be that the fishmonger was not racist. But I am quite certain that his mindset contained some discriminatory garbage. It could very well be, that it was acquired well before he entered this country and married his Ghanaian wife. It could also be that he acquired it via the fast track route. This could have been through lavish doses of the typically subservient behavior that the majority of Ghanaians tend to exhibit towards our Caucasian brothers. He could also have acquired it just by sitting back and observing how we Ghanaians go about our daily life and the task of building our country.

Well the restaurant has been shut down. Shockwaves will hopefully have been sent through similar establishments and service providers throughout the capital and the country. It is time to turn the lens introspectively on ourselves as a society and examine whether similar mindsets, exist in minds throughout the country, black or white.

Amongst us Ghanaians, similar discriminatory mental garbage can be acquired gradually, culturally and traditionally. It is a common to observe tradesmen, folks from the village and employees, leave their shoes and sandals at the door and enter the house barefoot. In the unlikely event that one forgets to do this, he or she is quickly reminded to leave their shoes outside.

It is also a common Ghanaian practice not to allow our drivers or employees into our houses or living rooms for a second longer than it is absolutely necessary. It is anathema to find a driver or house help, in their Masters living room, watching TV with them. It is very rare to find house helps, imported from the rural areas, eating the same food and enjoying the same treatment or privileges as their employers children. Don’t be fooled for a second. It is the same discriminatory mindset at work here.

Subconsciously to the perpetrator, the driver or house help is simply not a member of the household even though he or she might be a part of it in so many ways. Thus they do not qualify. It might not be white against black, it is black on black but that does not make it any less reprehensible. Countless other examples of the discriminatory mindset but it is pointless to enumerate them all. We can however, safely conclude that the discriminatory mindset doesn’t discriminate when it comes to which type of mind to inhabit. It could be Italian but it could also very well be Ghanaian.

It came as quite a shock when we discovered that the discriminatory statement was not a criminal offence. It is thus imperative to discuss legislation that can be passed to ensure the discriminatory mindset is expunged from all minds, African, Middle Eastern, Asian or Caucasian.

We need to draw our legislators eyes to the South African Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 .It is a comprehensive anti-discrimination law enacted by the Parliament of South Africa. It expands on the anti-discrimination provisions of the equality clause (section 9) of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa, prohibiting unfair discrimination by the government, private organizations and individuals. It also forbids hate speech and harassment. The act specifically lists race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth as "prohibited grounds" for discrimination, but also provides that discrimination on other grounds can be unfair if it has similar effects on dignity or equality. I would however recommend that the sexual orientation bit be removed from our implementation of such a law.

I would suggest that our legislators go one step further and criminalise any contravention of the above law with stiff penalties. We should then implement it with the same vigour with which we argue on radio stations every day about housing for ex Presidents.

And to those visiting our shores from far yonder, who hide that discriminatory mindset behind condescending smiles. Don’t think for one second, that this article seeks to absolve or play down the reprehensibility of that sort of mindset or behavior. It is reprehensible and will not be tolerated. When it comes to matters like this, we will unite together as Ghanaians and Blacks and deal with you accordingly and legally.

I rest my case