Never heard of him again  until last week when he was in the news having sacrificed his position as a very High Commissioner to contest a very low parliamentary position, where you become the errand boy of a whole constituency.

In the position of an errand boy, you are lucky if the President extends his condolences by making you a Minister without portfolio, or Minister at large. These are give-away positions that are offered when the President’s hands are full, but you are still disturbing his ears: a kind of take this job and keep ‘quite’ as we used to say at Kwabena Nkrumah Middle school, Achiase. Ask Ace Ankoma.

But I now understand Baba, the Zongo Boy. Not only does he miss Nima life as a very High Commissioner. The low position at Nima has a longer tenure if you behave yourself. The Very High Commissioner job however has only three years to go, and you could be dropped sei kutuu sei bam! Baba’s return to Parliament had another huge advantage.  

The year 2016 must have taught him a lesson, when he missed the Akwatia seat by 5000 votes! That was sad partly because he had been humbled by a hairdresser: NPP’s beloved Ama Sey who flaunted female supremacy and floored him ‘rough.’ A 2026 by-election in far-away Ayawaso years after, then gives Baba an opportunity to settle scores and restore the mantra: Truly truly truly Man Pass Woman.   And who was Baba’s main rival? Hajia Amina, a recently bereaved lady who could win sympathy votes seeking to succeed her husband; but whose widow’s mite could be inadequate to sway delegates,who are often moved by things higher than tears. 

They call it T & T. In the past this was paid to teachers on transfer for example to Bobikuma: T & T to convey your furniture, radiogram and he-goats whose passenger seat is often top of the carrier!. Thereafter it was extended to party delegates commuting for a meeting with an aspirant. It was ‘something small’ for transport, for which a polite Fanti gentleman could even say, ‘Ankr ma onku ho….’Keep it, no thanks.’

Transport allowance gradually moved up, to be delegates’ iced water, then lunch and waiting allowance. T & T has since grown bigger and better sometimes triggering riots and blows, and could attract thousands of cedis for three or zero miles travelled. But it comes in many forms. ‘Take this for transport but also this bag of rice, Frytol,’ sanitary pad, corn dough. Of late, GTP wax print, flat screen television, fridge, motorbike have joined the fray; and a politician’s T & T for delegates now requires a truck to convey!

In truth T & T could as well be the lubricant of grassroots democracy. You may call it vote buying and preach democracy from pulpits. Bad news for democracy, but big relief for unemployed youth, plus the cocoa farmer still awaiting payment for cocoa sold to Randy Abbey; unpaid teachers and nurses waiting to send children to school; overdue rent.  T & T happily comes to the rescue. It’s indeed an allowance that could enter textbooks as follows:

 I-have-lost-my-job allowance; a new Govt has kicked-me-out-of-Exim Bank allowance; my-rent-is-overdue allowance, and my-electricity-bill-has-gone-up by 18% allowance. Finally, galamsey-has-taken-over-my-cocoa farm allowance.

T & T is not Ayawaso’s burden but a pandemic that has infected every political office including presidencies. No wonder a committee formed by parliament  to investigate Ayawaso T & T ended nowhere. It was a plot to compel committee members to publicly ‘open their own bottom’ or the bottom of colleagues.

As for Baba, he and his cohorts could be stress busters, mounting a ‘Pamscad’ to alleviate poverty, and confessing to the poor man past sins of wealth acquisition.

Certainly a better option than the unkind act of covering crime in the name of the Latin garble: nolle prosequi.

Leave Ayawaso alone, where Man pass Woman!

kyankah@ashesi.edu.gh

Visit my site: kwesiyankahwrites.com