The sudden urge to get rich over-night comes in various forms and I personally get intrigued with how things are turning. I know it’s nothing new because, you probably know the various forms they come in. If I am not afraid to say, you, probably have been involved in a couple.
The quest to get rich especially amongst the youth ranges from engaging in armed robbery, internet fraud, “Sakawa” and the list goes on and on. For this write up, I want to focus my attention on the day to day activities citizens like you and I engage in but are not aware it affects the economics of the country.
The prices of food, transportation, goods and services keeps soaring up and we are quick to lay the blame on government for not stabilizing the cedis. Well I think some blame could be laid at the door steps of the Ghanaian for the unexplained suddenly internal inflation.
The other time I went to purchase morning breakfast “koko” and was suddenly told I can’t buy 70pesewas. I asked why, and the woman boldly told me, she has decided to hedge her price from 1 cedis. What!! My attempt to understand the factors behind this was greeted with insults and confrontations.
Yet, some kids ranging from ages 5, 7 and 10 years were able to buy at 70pesewas right in front of me. So I concluded that the sudden price increase was based on age and not any of the usual economic indicators such as demand and supply pull.
One might ask what I am going on and on about. Well, the koko seller has just inflated the price of koko by 30pesewas just like that, with little understanding to the wider implications it may have. What it means again is that, depending on your age, the price of koko will vary.
The argument she advanced again was, the unavailability of corn/millet which serves as the raw product for the production of the locally sort after breakfast, koko. I don’t again agree but well its either I buy at her prevailing price or hit the road. My issue however is, this will eventually increase other prices of goods and services unknown to her hence; inflation locally.
At another time, I visited the Nima market here in Accra to get fish for my intended upcoming weekend Kontomire stew. I asked a lady sitting behind a pile of fish the cost of her beautifully colored “Tuna” fish(smoked fish) and she stated the least price starts 15 cedis and above. The last time I was in the same market a week ago, I bought Tuna for 10 cedis. I started fuming and hence decided to visit the next trader. She then surprisingly asked if I have 8 cedis, we can safely do business. Really? Yes, you can argue she is into trading to make money but when you price goods at that level, we all know the lasting effect right?
Sometime ago some section of the public suddenly rejected the 1 Ghana pesewas for reasons best known to them. Till date, the implications of such is that, prices of commodities have been pegged from 5 pesewas. I stand corrected though.
Individuals, organizations or institutions suddenly at their own will, peg prices at whatever levels they deem fit thinking they are outwitting every other person. When in fact they forget they might in other ways be influencing price hikes unnecessarily. As for the bus conductors and other stakeholders involved in the transport sector, I will share my experiences with you at a later date.
Always note as a citizen of this country, your well-being as well as mine is a shared responsibility.
