Are there ordinary Ghanaians?

Everyday we hear journalists and politicians refer to “ordinary Ghanaians”. Politicians always claim to be working in the interest of the “ordinary Ghanaian” and journalists and so called political commentators are always urging governments to do things in the interest of the “ordinary Ghanaian”.

But are there “ordinary Ghanaians”? If there are, who are they? Should governments be working in the interest of all Ghanaians or a certain section of Ghanaians called “ordinary”? Ever since I got the idea to get to the bottom of the phenomenon, I have asked a few people to explain to me who really is an “ordinary Ghanaian”. I have had conflicting answers. Indeed there is no agreement about who is and who is not an “ordinary Ghanaian”.

But having listened to various views on this matter, I will attempt to summarise what people generally mean by “ordinary Ghanaian”. One school of thought says that by “ordinary Ghanaian” is meant Ghanaians who have no leverage in society. What that means is that there are certain Ghanaians who have no capacity to get their way through the bureaucracy and red tape that bedevils our administrative system. These people according to this school of thought need governments to ensure that the normal administrative processes are working because they do not have the capacity to subvert or accelerate the slow administrative processes either by personal influence or through naked bribery.

Another school of thought is that by “ordinary Ghanaian” is meant people in low income brackets who generally find it difficult to make ends meet.

Yet another school of thought which is quite radical states that by “ordinary Ghanaian” is meant the everyday Ghanaian which in essence means every Ghanaian.

I have always refrained from using the term “ordinary Ghanaian” to describe any set of Ghanaians. Indeed I have always wondered whether there are any at all. And that is the reason I set out to find out. But the answers that I have received so far have confused me rather than enlightened me on the concept. I just think that there are Ghanaians and governments should be working to better the lot of Ghanaians generally.

For example if we were to assume that there are indeed “ordinary” and “non-ordinary” Ghanaians, and if we are always calling on governments to work in the interest of the “ordinary ones” what will that suggest? Will it mean that the “non-ordinary” Ghanaians do not have concerns or is it that their concerns do not matter? Let us take the example of the vexed question of fuel price increases. If fuel prices go up, it affects all Ghanaians whether or not they are called “ordinary”. Indeed if we were to take the position that “ordinary' Ghanaians are the low income earners, then it will mean that it is rather the “non-ordinary” Ghanaians who are worse affected by fuel price increases. This is because they are the ones who own private vehicles and hence feel the pinch of fuel price increases more.

Indeed in most cases, governments go into negotiation with transport unions to negotiate better deals for the so called “ordinary” Ghanaian. But having done that the pinch is still felt by the “ordinary” Ghanaian in terms of increases in the prices of food stuffs. So whether we are called “ordinary” or “extra ordinary” we are affected one way or the other by government policy.

I think that the term “ordinary” Ghanaian is an empty concept begotten of propaganda whose aim is to divide and rule. Sections of the society are being pitched against other sections and told that they are special. That some politicians care for them while others do not. I guess it has its antecedents in the formation of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) in 1949. Nkrumah formed the CPP on the back of the so called Veranda Boys.

This was to respond to the so called elitism of Danquah and his collegues. True to form, Nkrumah succeeded in pitching the majority of the people against his colleagues in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). The men in the UGCC were labeled as not having the interest of so called “ordinary” people at heart.

Jerry Rawlings rode on the back of the concept to sow seeds of disaffection within the ranks of the Armed Forces in 1979 which eventually emboldened the junior ranks to stage the coup of June 4th 1979 that released him from prison custody. I remember that fateful day in 1979. I was at the Station Experimental School at the Kamina Barracks in Tamale. When word came that there was a mutiny or so we were told, the Headmaster quickly summoned us to assembly and closed the school.

While we were at the station near the swimming pool waiting for any means that will take us home, I saw senior officers being “doubled” by other ranks. In the army to “double” somebody means to get them jumping on their toes at slow measured paces. I was appalled. I was quite young and therefore did not make a lot of sense of what was going on. But what hit me was why the rules had been turned up side down. I always knew that senior officers doubled other ranks and not the other way round.

But thanks to Jerry's incitement, this was happening right in front of our noses. Today we know that Jerry had prior to his abortive May 15th insurrection, been planting the idea in the heads of other ranks that the officers were feeding fat on them and did not care about their welfare. Again, the division between “ordinary' and “non-ordinary” soldiers had been sowed which eventually exploded.

The interesting thing about the concept of “ordinary' and “non-ordinary” Ghanaians is that after people have incited the so called “ordinary” people to help them to ascend to power, then they are no longer “ordinary” themselves. On the 6th of January this year, I was on TV with Kofi Wayo and he went on about the fact that he and Jerry are “ordinary” people who are always on the side of the “ordinary' people. But I pointed to him that I did not consider Jerry as an “ordinary” person at all.

In my view, somebody who has a fleet of vehicles including Jaguars, exotic guard dogs and one who owns a river side house and other houses and flies first class, certainly cannot refer to himself as “ordinary' by any stretch of imagination. Indeed based on the sample views that I have gathered, the consensus seems to be that “ordinary” people are generally the down trodden of society who struggle on a daily basis to go through life. I don't believe that Jerry can be categorized as one who struggles to go through life.

So my personal view is that all the talk every day about “ordinary” Ghanaians is political gimmick and propaganda. I believe that we are Ghanaians and that is all. Let us as politicians commit to the welfare of Ghanaians rather than some imaginary “ordinary” people to the exclusion of “non-ordinary” ones.

For example, all our governments have always touted their commitment to the private sector. I remember when President Mills was Vice President, his anthem was “the private sector is the engine of growth”. Preisdent Kufuor kept the momentum of that anthem and even went ahead to set up a Ministry for Private Sector Development. But all of us know that those who are the captains of the private sector can hardly be called “ordinary” in the sense in which politicians and journalists use the term. But the idea is that when these captains of the private sector are empowered to grow their businesses, they will in turn employ the so called ordinary people and thereby spread the benefits of the growth of their businesses.

So even though the President may have the so called “ordinary” Ghanaian in mind as he goes about trying to engineer private sector growth, he inevitably ends up helping “non-ordinary” Ghanaians in order that the benefits might trickle to the ordinary ones.

The point that I am making therefore is that this business of “we are working in the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian” or “let the government work in the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian” is phantom. It is a figment of our imagination. In my view, there are just Ghanaians with virtually the same set of problems. We all need water, electricity, good roads, quality education for our children, improved agriculture etc.

All of us as Ghanaians visit the same markets and the same shopping centers. Therefore let our governments, politicians and journalists not create phantom divisions of the citizenry into “ordinary” and “non-ordinary” citizens with a commitment to working in the interest of only the “ordinary” Ghanaian.

Let me cite another example of all those hard working and enterprising people at Abossey Okai. These people sell virtually anything that has to do with cars from the ignition to the engine. But these people command literally billions of cedis. Most of them are unlettered, do not wear tie and suit and even do not drive top of the range vehicles. What will we call these people? Are they ordinary or not?

If the picture we have in our minds of “ordinary” people as poor and down trodden is to be held, then they cannot be called “ordinary” by any stretch of imagination. Indeed most of them if they were to pull their monies out of our banking system, most of our banks will collapse.

In my view, we are all Ghanaians. We all have the same needs and aspirations. We all look forward to our governments solving the myriad of problems that face us. There are no “ordinary” Ghanaians with different sets of needs from “non-ordinary” ones.

Credit: Mustapha Hamid Bawre [mustaphahamid.net]