Zu-za Is Always Crying Wolf!

Ever heard the story of the boy who always cried wolf when there was none? Maybe you have, but I would love to refresh your mind by recounting the story here.

A story is told of a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, “Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!”

The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces.

As they went back down the hill, the villagers told the shepherd not to cry wolf when there was none.

Days later, the boy sang out again, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away.

When the villagers saw no wolf, they sternly told him to save his song for when there was really something wrong! “Don’t cry ‘wolf’ when there is no wolf,” they said.

But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.

Later, he saw a real wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leapt to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, “Wolf! Wolf!”

But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn’t come.

At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn’t returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping.

He said there was a real wolf and he cried out, “Wolf!” but nobody came.

An old man tried to comfort the boy by cuddling him as they walked back to the village. He then told him, “Nobody believes a liar…even when he is telling the truth!”

I will liken the shepherd boy to those standing under the eagle-headed Umbrella. Time and again, we hear them screaming 'wolf' only for us to run to the hill to find that there is no wolf. Last year they shouted from the rooftop that the Great Elephant government was going to worsen the plight of the citizenry by increasing the charges on electricity consumption.

Many were those who believed their story and lamented the 'impending' electricity increment.  Others went to the extent of deriding the government and even expressed regret for helping put Nana Dee on the presidential throne.

We all waited for the electricity tariff increase, but it never came. It turned out that they had deliberately lied to me and my compatriots to make the Nana Dee government look bad. How we were livid for that act of deception!

They were in the news again about three weeks ago predicting doom for the Cedi in relation to other trading currencies on the market. Per their voodoo economic calculations, they expected the Cedi to emulate Usain Bolt, the Jamaican Sprinter, and run at a world record of 9.58 seconds per 100 meters against the other trading currencies. Again, many were those who believed their Kwaku Ananse story and lamented the hardship such a sprint by the Cedi may cause.

Once again, we waited in vain for their prediction to come to pass. Contrary to their doomsday prediction, the Cedi decided to move at a snail's pace on the forex market. Once again, we could not help but be livid at the deliberate concoction of stories to cause fear and panic among the citizenry.

Shameless as they are, they came out this week inundating our ears with the chorus, “There is going to be an increase in VAT rate.” They sang it so loudly that many of our compatriots believed it. Even when they were told nothing of the sort was in the Mid-Year Budget Review, they persisted in singing their discordant song.

So on Thursday when Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta went to Parliament to present the Mid-Year Budget Review, many were those who expected him to announce the VAT rate increment. They waited and waited but they heard no such thing. The stark truth is that the Umbrella folks have once again deceived their compatriots.

I later watched the Finance Minister's presentation and could not help laughing when he said there wouldn't be any increment in the VAT rate. The sullen and morose faces of the Minority members aptly epitomized their shock, disappointment and shame!

Apparently, a question posed by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko on his facebook wall was what they relied on to cry wolf. Hmm, if only they knew why he and his ilk are called ‘Akyem mafia’!

Like the old man in the story, I would also try to give an unsolicited advice. Zu-za can cry wolf as many times as they want. But they should remember that no one will eventually believe any story they tell because nobody believes a chronic liar!

I wonder if they would heed my counsel, considering the fact that many of them have been infected with the dead-goat syndrome.

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo Volente!