A Christmas 2023 miscellany in a country of curious happenings

I think I can say that Ghana is a curious country – or maybe, rather, it’s a country where curious things happen too often, some quite bewildering.

Not that strange things don’t happen in other countries, too; of course, they do! But there must be a reason why some of the developments this country experiences tend to generate the perplexed response, “only in Ghana!”

A few recent ones come to mind:

Take the recent news report that millions of dollars’ worth of life-saving medical products at the Tema Port were at risk of being destroyed! It’s hardly the kind of news that one expects to hear almost on Christmas Eve, in the season of universal goodwill, festive cheer and glad tidings.

After all, despite financial and attendant survival problems, Christmas generally means high anticipation of festivity and enjoyment. The Christmas season comes with an infectiousness that affects even non-Christians and those who hardly put any significance to the birth in a manger 2,000 years ago.

Certainly, such shocking news is not what the vulnerable expect to wake up to, least of all in this season. But on Saturday, December 23, 2023 that was the lead news item on Radio Ghana’s 6am bulletin.

It quoted a news release by the Network of Persons Living With HIV/AIDS – Ghana (NAP+) which called on the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to intervene immediately so that the health products worth US$40 million would not be destroyed. “NAP+ Ghana is the umbrella and coordinating body for all PLHIV individuals, groups and/or associations in Ghana.”

The Network’s statement of Friday, December 22, signed by Ms Elsie Ayeh, warned: “Life-saving health products, financed by the Global Fund and worth US$40 million, are at risk of being destroyed if not cleared within the next 24 hours.”

My understanding of the possible destruction indicates non-payment of port duties – but maybe I’m wrong.

Notably, their destruction would affect the fight against HIV and malaria in the country, as they include Antiretrovirals and malaria products. Critically, it would result in massive shortages of key commodities “and interrupt vital health services, including the 2024 Insecticide-Treated Net mass campaign.

“Failure to address this issue would have severe consequences, impacting the health and well-being of countless individuals who depend on these medications,” NAP+ noted.

One prays that the critical SOS was able to generate action to save the products – and thus save lives.

How is it even possible for such a situation to arise in the first place? Why were these crucial health products – apparently provided by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – left uncleared, obviously too long at the port, necessitating this urgent appeal?

Especially in view of the importance of the products; and considering that they were donated by the Global Fund (emphasis added), it’s a very curious circumstance.

Then regarding the 2023 District Assembly Elections held on December 19, two astonishing incidents caught my attention. The first had to do with, of all the improbable, a dead man winning an Assembly seat!

The Chronicle of December 21, 2023, reported the story from an unusual angle and gave the astounding news a compelling headline: “Dead AssemblyMan Breaks Nkrumah’s 1951 Record …In district level election”.

The paper explained: “Unlike Kwame Nkrumah, who the people of Odododiodio voted for whilst still in prison, the electorate in Tebrebe Electoral area decided to vote for Manasseh Addison Sackey, 34, during the recent district level elections, even though they knew that he was dead.

“Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, won the 1951 legislative elections … whilst he was still in prison at Wa, in the now Upper West Region.”

Mr Sackey, the incumbent Assembly Member seeking re-election, died on December 5, 2023, during a campaign tour. He reportedly drowned when the canoe he and others were travelling in capsized, but three of his team survived.

What I find remarkable is that although the constituents reportedly knew very well that Mr Sackey was dead, they still voted for him. What a wonderful vote of confidence, a historic, genuine testimonial of his tenure as Assemblyman! And it counts as an awesome endorsement, even if curious!

In the second Assembly Elections incident, what happened at one of the polling stations seems to merit a Guinness Book of Records entry.

The Independent of December 20, reported it under the headline “Assembly elections: Biometric system fails to differentiate identical twins in Accra”:

“An intriguing incident unfolded at the Methodist Church polling station in the Ga-North constituency of the Greater Accra Region.

“Despite being identical twins, a voter was denied the right to vote as the biometric system identified her as having already voted, even though her twin sister had successfully gone through the identification process earlier.

“The Presiding Officer at the polling station characterised this as an unprecedented occurrence, suggesting it could be an attempt at double voting or a minor system glitch.”

Yet, a medical reference source, Healthline Media of the US, affirms that:

“Identical twins have closely related genetic makeup with slight differences and similar physical appearances. But, like those who aren’t twins, identical twins all have unique fingerprints … it’s impossible for identical twins to have the exact same fingerprints” (emphasis added).

I guess the Electoral Commission will have to investigate and come out with an explanation for what seems a unique occurrence, perhaps a world first.

In the meantime, my question is: when the twins were registering for their Voter ID, did the biometric machine register them as one person with the same biometric details, or as two persons with separate biometric details? Certainly another curious case!

Still, perhaps the most peculiar occurrence in the country in recent times, is that of the emergence of what is believed to be a new political movement, The New Force (TNF), with a foreigner as its spokesperson. The expectation is that the TNF aims to challenge the duopoly of the ruling New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress.

Nevertheless, it’s not the emergence of a new political body that I find strange, because there are other political parties.

One of the two aspects of interest is the fact that, as widely reported, the TNF’s billboards announcing its presence in the country feature a mysterious masked man. The second is the controversy surrounding their spokesperson, named as Shalimar Abbiusi, a 30-year-old Belgian woman, who allegedly used a false declaration to enable her stay in Ghana, as a District Court was told.

(Yet, some critics claim that Ghana is turning into a police state under President Nana Akufo-Addo! In which totalitarian state can a foreigner practically saunter in and become a political movement leader?)

Anyhow, as reported by the local media, Ms Abbiusi has been deported, after the state dropped the charge against her and was re-arrested by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

The mask, a quite scary one, is an interesting publicity stunt and likely to generate interest as an initial symbol of a new political entity. But can a nightmarish bogeyman image be helpful, whatever their cause is?

More puzzling, why would an emerging Ghanaian political movement need a foreigner, moreover someone so conspicuously non-black, as spokesperson?

Furthermore, why would a Belgian be so interested in championing a political endeavour here, even through alleged illegal means, as charged by the GIS?

‘Curiouser and curiouser’! Evidently, there are more questions than answers, as an evergreen song says! Still, one hopes that the answers, or some of them, will emerge in the New Year!

SEASON’S GREETINGS!

ajoayeboahafari@yahoo.com