If a benevolent neighbour doesn’t call you to pound fufu for her, you’ll not get food to eat – Trotro mate shares survival story
A trotro mate (shuttle conductor) who ply the Kasoa – Madina route has recounted the hardship being faced by himself and other colleagues who engage in a similar enterprise for survival.
Akatapori, a resident of Lomnava, a suburb in Accra, in a discussion on the “Youth Forum” on Smart TV, Friday, May 14, 2021, closely monitored by Ghanasonline.com, indicated he works from dawn to night daily but goes ‘home’ with a meagre revenue.
He says he sleeps in the Sprinter bus he works in daily because his income cannot rent him an apartment to accommodate him — in the capital.
“I wake up at 4am and close at 9pm. I make GHS30.00 a day. When I close at 9pm, I have to wash the car and sleep inside because I don’t have money to rent even a single room,” he narrated.
Espousing further on their daily challenges, Akatapori noted the fuel price hikes has currently placed him out of job, making him and his colleagues survive on the mercy of benevolent neighbours who seek their support to offer them some morsels of food to sustain their existence.
“Captain, we are young men in this country but sometimes before you will eat, someone would have to call you to help her pound her fufu for her in order to get you some to satisfy your hunger. We are suffering. Our leaders plead for our votes and ignore us when they come to power”
“You see how people pick phones and call others and say you’ve received some goods at the airport so send us some money to go and claim and all those scams? They are due to hunger.”
He added that robbery cases are on the ascendency because the lack of jobs has rendered the youth hungry.
Speaking on the same show, another youth, Jude, also a resident of Lomnava revealed that “before the announcement of the lockdown [March 2020], I had just GHS10.00 on me. We are going through a lot at our base in Lomnava. We have degree holders with ideas amongst us but they don’t have jobs to do.”
He cautioned the leadership to be up and doing to avert a replication of Mohamed Bouazizi’s self immolation [on January 4, 2011] in Tunisia which triggered the Arab Spring.,
“If we are not careful, the guy who burnt himself in Tunisia to start the uprising will happen in a more dangerous manner in Ghana,” he cautioned.
The host, Captain Smart, called on the youth to rise and demand what’s due them as was done in other countries to forestall development.
“I have always said that we need to rise up, especially those between 15 and 45 years. Turkey, China, Australia, South Africa all became who they’re because their youth rose. If you’re sleeping wake up, if you’re awake, sit, if you’re sitting stand, if you’re standing walk, if you’re walking, jog, and if you’re jogging, run,” he admonished.
