Glenn Lall’s work is admirable, but comparing Ghana and Guyana is like comparing apples to oranges

Nov 13, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – I would be a liar if I said there is no poverty in Africa. The truth is, poverty exists everywhere even in the United States, a so-called global superpower. It is estimated that nearly 13% of the U.S. population lives in poverty. Ironically, there are some African countries such as Kenya where the number of people living below the poverty line is less than 12%. The biased western media will never tell the world this. They continue, however, to show only the poor side of Africa. Not the rich side. Likewise in the west, they continue to only show us the rich side, not the poor one.

Recently, I conducted a comparative study between the economies of western countries when they were at the same demographic and structural level as most African countries, i.e., when their GDP and per capita spending were like Africa and when 70% of their populations relied on agriculture for livelihood and only 30% of their people were urbanized and you will appreciate that many African countries are doing way better than those advanced countries did. Their media is so biased that they cannot even make these analyses. Their objective is to belittle Africa. Period. They also tend to conveniently forget the impact of the slave trade and colonialism on Africa.

The truth is, I admire Glenn Lall’s patriotism and I can empathize with him given the way Guyana is being divided, ripped, and rapped by powerful nations and their multinationals. No sensible Guyanese should not be concerned about Guyana’s plunder. What is even more painful is that these resources are not infinite. One day, they will be extinct and what will happen to future generations? So yes, African leaders have mismanaged our resources but in Guyana, it is simply unimaginable. It is déjà vu, thanks to race politics, inactive civil society, and laid-back youths. Editor, at university I was a student leader, and I got the opportunity to visit a few African countries, especially within the Great Lakes region. But trust me, I have witnessed poverty in some areas of Guyana that I am yet to see in those countries I visited.

One of the mistakes that individuals like Glenn Lall do is to measure poverty in Africa in terms of dollar expenditure. In 2005, while a college student, I remember challenging some staff of the GTZ now GIZ on the same approach to measuring poverty in Africa. In several African countries, including Ghana which Mr Lall visited, USD$ 1 or GYD$ 200 will give you at least 7lbs of plantain. In Guyana, that amount can’t purchase even 1lb of plantain. USD$ 5 or GYD 1,000 will give a family of four in those countries a decent lunch. It can’t in Guyana. Therefore, comparing poverty in Africa with Guyana using monetary measures, as Mr. Lall attempted to do, is like comparing oranges with apples. Most African economies are not so monetized and this is what many people fail to understand. My late grandmother would spend a fortnight without having any need for money whatsoever. She had her cows which gave her milk more than she needed a day, she would plant her beans, peanuts, bamboo shoots, peas and Bambara nuts for her stew. She also had chicken on the free range which gave her eggs and of course, all sorts of provisions. She paid no rent and although her house had no electricity, running water and the internet, it was quite descent. There are many households in Africa that like how my grandmother did.

Mr Lall said that he visited Ghana. Ghana is almost the size of Guyana but with a population of about 32 million or 40 times that of Guyana. Ghana has less resources than Guyana, but in terms of international poverty ranking, in 2021, Ghana scored 11.3% and Guyana was above 40%. The salaries are very identical between the two countries, only that in Ghana, the cost for goods and services is at least five times less. When I, therefore, heard Mr. Lall say that he does not want to see the poverty he saw in Ghana in Guyana I was stunned. Perhaps Mr. Lall visits only the rich parts of Guyana. I have had the opportunity of visiting both the poor and rich places in both contexts. Mr. Lall’s messages are instructive. Guyanese need to heed his calls; however, telling his listeners that there is too much poverty in Africa than Guyana, may make his listeners less bothered, after all in their minds, they are better off than people in Africa.

Yours faithfully,
Joseph Wangija

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