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14.01.2013 Feature Article

The Wandering Passport & Facebook

The Wandering Passport amp; Facebook
14.01.2013 LISTEN

The Wandering Passport & Facebook
Fill them Spirit, Lord I thank you
Feel alright now, good Lord hear me
                                                                           Anytime, anywhere, good Lord help me

  No more crying, Lord I thank you
  Bob Marley
 
How would you react if a total stranger called you one day with news that she had your passport which as far as you could tell, was not missing! The above high-speed drama was my lot on Monday this week.

A well-spoken lady was on the other end of the line. Was I Mr. Son of Man? Had I lost my passport? Had it been stolen? Doesn't it contain some valid visas? And on and on she grilled me. Well, the document was safe, to the best of my knowledge, tucked in a corner somewhere in my bedroom.

Fortunate enough to be home that morning, I quickly dashed to the last alleged location of the document - zilch! At that point, my confidence suffered a bad hit and began to wane. A couple of questions from my end later— is it a two-in-one document?— I was struck with cold comfort that the passport, last used two weeks ago, was truly in the possession of the lady at the other end.

They had found the document very close to where I live. Had there been a break- in and we hadn't even noticed, did we have any other missing property, had it fallen mysteriously out of the car unto the road? Had it … The questions were endless. Nevertheless, the stranger and I arranged a pick up that very morning at her office.

Enter Awoyo and Sandra.
Facebook and Google do indeed play tricks. On first meeting, Awoyo smiled like an old friend. 'This is the face', she declared as if in confirmation to herself and later to the accompanying Missus, she asked, 'Are you the one in Dzodze?'

Thanks to the Internet and Google, our lives were very much there for the taking. Not sure whether to be frightened or amused. The latter, perhaps, given the happy ending to this story.

My great relief aside, I couldn't help appreciating the sleuthing skills of Awoyo in tracking me down with the full benefit of modern technology aka Face book. First, she mounted a vigorous search for me on the ubiquitous Facebook where as some may be aware, the son of man by some wicked twist of fate, operates two accounts.

There, she found 'our mutual friend' called OB. Not having OB's telephone number, she called another friend of hers whose cousin OB is who then supplied his number. And by the way, this friend happens to be in Liberia currently.

And since the mutual friend is a really old friend, he just happened to have my old MTN number which is fate would have it, has been successfully stolen by a thief a couple of years ago and appears to be back in full use and circulation. Incidentally, the thief is not courteous.

Rude to the core, many have reported receiving crude insults upon calling me on the old stolen MTN number 0244723909 to ask of the Son of Man, much to my embarrassment.

'I spoke to someone who was very rude. I later had to call back and apologize for bothering him but that there was a problem, at which point he said he was not the one! Using the same channels, I managed to get your Vodafone number, which is when I called you!'

As it turns out, Awoyo is a supervisor of sorts to Sandra who actually found the document. Sandra, the story unfolds, lives across the street opposite my house. There, she had chanced upon a conversation by a group of 'area boys' in which they were talking about having found someone's passport but not knowing what to do with it.

When she pressed further, they released it to her, ostensibly to have it announced in the media but with the caveat that she not relate their role in finding the document. Their hypothesis was that being probably stolen, suspicion may naturally fall to them once the link was made.

Before our thank you-s and goodbyes to our inauguration day angels, the accompanying Missus and I shared our own hypotheses. We had had a number of workers in the house over the holidays and especially in the preceding week, two of whom had had access to the bedroom. Perhaps? Perhaps! Driving home, the Missus would be sure to point out my apparent lack of sufficient security awareness.

In moments like this, when the son of man is fully cornered, man's response can hardly be robust, except in the not so small matter of expressing my copious thanks to Awoyo and Sandra of Ghana Revenue Authority, Spintex Road Branch.

 
Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey
www.sodzisodzi.com http://www.sodzisodzi.com/
[email protected] mailto:[email protected]

 

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