Kwashiorkor and baby-faced voters

Ask the average child from a so called developed country what he had for dinner and the answer could be chicken, lamb, fish, steak etc. Ghana woman child? brace yourself for kenkey, akple, fufu, TZ etc. If the child is lucky, 2 or three pieces of fatty meat in the accompaniment soup which is reserved for last at dinner. It is an added bonus if the bones contain marrow so you can have a jaw exercising activity on its own after dinner.

Almighty kokonte with ground pepper and tomatoes, and sliced onions is a list topper. Aside fufu, it is the ultimate energy food and, the browner or greener the kokonte, the better. This means the left over pieces of cassava left to the mercy of the elements under the sun got dried along with some African friendly bacteria for colouring.

The difference is that, while the first group of foods mentioned above is full of protein, essential for growth, Ghanaman¢s child is packing himself with carbohydrates. Meaning, the potential of a Ghanaian c hild growing to and or over six feet tall in a sound body and sound mind is left to permutations; good governance, good rainy season, the fortunes of the parent and an uncle and his generosity. It is the ultimate formula for rescuing a child from kwashiorkor. By now we all know the chances of Ghana fielding a men¢s national basketball or volleyball team at the world stage. We could even field the mens team now against an all female national team from Russian or even a Brazil and predict the results.

Of all the words that Ghanaian languages have contributed to the expansion of the English language, "kwashiorkor" stands out and has become standard for describing malnourished children the world over, with a reference to Ghana as its origin. And you are pissed about it. Even kente is spelled checked wrong by Microsoft word, not kwashiorkor. Everybody can recognise a kwashiorkor child with some of the identifying symptoms, pot belly, swollen feet with openings on the body and unkempt falling off hair. There could be a valid argument that most Ghanaians know their food now and that kwashiorkor children are no more a usual sight in Ghana as can easily be found in war zones like the Sudan and Somalia etc

A kwashiorkor child is a malnourished child who did not receive the required dose of protein. If this occurred, it is likely that child did not receive the normally required dose of vitamins and minerals like calcium, found in milk which is vital for growth. Medical experts argue this point. Therefore; saying it Ghanaian, "so therefore", it is likely you reading this or someone close to you was kwashiorkor at a point in time. And this pissed you off still. "Me kwashiorkor?" The questions, did you drink milk or have milk in your breakfast at least 4 times a week while growing up, and was at least a forth part of your lunch or dinner meat, fish, allied or soya bean or bean products? There you go. If you answered yes to one of the questions, it is likely you were dadaba and your dad dropped you off at school and it is also likely that only your biological parents paid your school and PTA fees. They also bought your student¢s mattress and you were not worried when the SSNIT loans came late. That was your blowing time money. Everyone also pretended that the SSNIT loan was entertainment money instead of for koko. Some of that money was even dispatched home to supplement your parents¢ although it was never admitted. No one or few did.

It is a big reason to smell rat the moment that report came out that the two political parties were helping register so called under aged voters. How do you tell if they were minors, their appearance, baby face, height, mannerism, what? At least that was former NDC pressman, Vincent Assiseh¢s theory when this issue came up 8 years ago. He actually said they could have been stunted growth people, not minors, a suggestion that drew a response from Adwoa Afari Yeboah, "30 year old stunted growth person, hm" That was at a press conference at the International press Center in 2000. It was a long shot at not justifying allegations of minors registering to vote. A hearty exchange but the seriousness of Vincent Assiseh¢s suggestion was buried in there, away from the underage registration allegations.

That no one would raise the question that these potential voters could have been; well, kwashiorkor affected is not limited to Ghana. China has been accused of fielding minors as 20 year old gymnasts in the on going Olympics. It could also mean they were genetically disposed not to grow tall. We remember then FIFA President, Jao Havalange saying every country was guilty of fielding overaged players in the junior world cups. That would mean kwashiorkor players claiming to be dadaba. Sort of like the mustachioed under 16 players from the Arabic countries who must have had more than their fair dosage of protein while growing up. Was not the now famous 1989 -91 starlets squad built around Alex Opoku. In this case, he was dadaba along with most of the players. This is still a way of establishing sovereignty. A country says these are my citizens and listed are their various ages. Now who can challenge that?

One is sure curious, which of the parties is fielding a dadaba as presidential candidate. At least we know the outgoing one is not kwashiorkor and so is the outgone one. So what do we call all the pot bellied people in Ghana, men and women.