By Isaac Ato MENSAH
Kyebi – 8 February, 2019
“Follow the crowd” was a common derogatory cliché when we were growing up.
There is nothing wrong with following the crowd save that you must know where it is headed and the values of the one herding that crowd.
Trending on social media are issues surrounding Menzgold.
Many allegations have reportedly been being made by the father of Nana Appiah Mensah, the Menzgold founder and CEO.
What is Menzgold?
This question should under normal circumstances be answered by the company itself.
But now, it is clear they have a serious problem with respect to moral and intellectual scrutiny.
Menzgold tells you it has gold to sell.
You give them cash, and they keep the gold you bought from them for you in return for 7 to 10 percent interest per month.
The alternative is to keep your gold yourself and earn nothing.
But of course what is the intrinsic value of the company?
Do they have real gold?
You only hold the gold you bought from them for a few hours and give it back to them.
If you take it home overnight, then it is no longer their gold and hence you cannot receive interest on it.
If you returned the same thing the next day, well it is not the same thing; they will have to assay it to test its gold value and weight.
BUT, when they gave it to you, there was no assaying whatsoever.
In this land of gold, only a limited number of people have ever seen real gold.
So many people fell for this strange arrangement including the rich and powerful.
To add icing to the cake, Menzgold got musicians and other celebrities to endorse their brand.
A perfect Ponzi scheme was in full effect.
Where else on earth will you get 10 percent interest a month or 120 percent a year just by giving them your cash to hold.
How do you get your original cash back (principal) in case you wanted to stop?
A significant number of the so called investors knew it was virtually impossible.
In short, they knew exactly what the game plan was; robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Why did they fall for it?
Some were greedy; too smart for their own good that they outsmarted themselves.
Others equally smarter thought if this person of such a high status in society is doing it, then he or she must know what he is doing.
This is how Ghanaians have behaved over the past two years, a clear indication of their mindset.
Now let us turn our attention to the Ministries, Osu, Accra, where most of the government institutions are located.
This is where most of the 111 ministers work.
When the World Bank or IMF or CNN is looking for a government appointee to talk to, this is where they come to.
Just look at the pictures below and confirm the Ghanaian mindset for yourself.
‘Come out of them and be ye separate.’
Let us take a walk around Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and its environs.
After all, it is here that all the deals are negotiated, and yes, business people from all over the world come here.
Open gutter in front of Ministry of Finance, Accra. No Parking….Are the ladies seated on a pavement?
Car tyres to prevent parking in front of the MOF wall.
Walking from the MOF gate towards towards the Customs headquarters.
OK. Turn right. On this road, you will find the Ministry of Works and Housing, and Ministry of Sanitation. It is here that public construction works are approved and stamped.
Getting closer…..on the same street. The marked ground to the right is for parking. So now you know why we all walk on the streets.
Do these leaders have the mindset to solve our financial and developmental challenges?
How serious can they be with those budget statements which also list all the development projects and take several hours to read?
‘Underdevelopment has many facets,’ says my mentor.
Can you conceptualise how these photos taken around Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, Accra, relate to the Menzgold matter?
Can you relate it to how the Menzgold matter will be solved?
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