Idon’t know if there has been any decree from the Flagstaff House this year prohibiting the giving of hampers. It wasn’t quite clear to me if the directives given last year were applicable to Christmas 2014 or to all Christmases henceforth.
Now I come to think of that particular decree. I am not sure if it was the giving that was being outlawed or the receiving as well. Since I don’t come within the ambit of Flagstaff House decrees, I took the view that I was free to receive and give Christmas hampers.
I have also been wondering what this message was meant to convey to the public. Are we being encouraged to think that government officials should not celebrate Christmas because the “economy has challenges†and we are going {gallery}sampledata/fruitshop:::0:0{/gallery}through temporary difficulties? Would it make any difference if the officials gave away their hampers to everybody’s favourite charity, the Osu Children’s Home?
But then I have always had difficulties with the hampers that are popular in this country. I do not like the amount of plastic that is wrapped around the baskets. A lot of plastic is a dead giveaway about the quality of the items in the basket. Plastic is meant to hide cheap stuff and other things whose date of expiry is approaching. The more expensive and classy an item is, the less likely it is that it will be wrapped in a lot of plastic and tied with an exaggerated colourful ribbon.Â
So what do we give and receive at Christmas in Ghana? I have been taking a close look at the hampers in the shops. The most popular item that appears in the majority of hampers is Danish butter biscuit in the colourful blue tin.
I have no idea how this particular biscuit became such an ubiquitous item in Ghana and I have even less idea who or if anyone actually eats it. It is the most recycled gift item in the country; you repackage it and pass it on and the next person also gives it away and so it goes on until one fine day, someone discovers the use by date has expired and you feel very guilty about throwing it away.
If it is a high end hamper, there is likely to be a bottle of Red or Black Label Scotch Whisky in it; and this is also a good candidate for a recycled gift. Swiss and Belgian Chocolates also feature in our hampers and yet they are not exactly the most popular things with most people in Ghana.
In this country, we grow cocoa, our Golden Tree chocolates win prizes abroad for chocolate connoisseurs, but we are not a chocolate-eating people. Why we give each other chocolates, I haven’t got the vaguest idea. These days, there would be the odd towel in some of the hampers. Like the chocolates and the biscuits and the whisky, I recommend you pass it on; it is not likely to be an absorbent towel.
We really should stick to the type of Christmas presents we used to give before the advent of the hampers; chicken, duck, goat, sheep, and they can be live or dressed. These come with the obligatory bag of rice of various sizes. What makes these more useful as presents is that they are not likely to be kept until they go bad and they do not lend themselves to being wrapped in lots of plastic. You save the environment and what you see is what you get.
The fancifully packaged tins and bottles and packets can be, and often are priced so highly, they attract attention. The reason the Chief of Staff sent out his edict was because the government feared a hungry and struggling population would resent officials giving and receiving expensive hampers among and to each other.
I suspect that chicken or goat, especially the live ones, even when decorated with ribbons, do not qualify as hampers and thus you can give or receive those without incurring the wrath of the Chief of Staff or the Flagstaff House.
The joy of Christmas is that it is meant to be an inclusive festival of celebrations. The goodwill is supposed to be to all men. I am therefore going big on Christmas this year.
My late, most beloved grandmother had a theory that I have held on to. She used to say that it is the day that things are hardest for you at home that you wear your best clothes and put on your happiest smile. If you have been having difficulty serving meat at home this year because of these never ending challenges, this is the time to lay the most sumptuous Christmas dinner. Don’t try to save half the chicken for another meal the next day; let everybody enjoy the Christmas meal as though there is no tomorrow.
I have put up Christmas lights that I am determined to enjoy. I am pretending the Electricity company is functioning and I am pretending the prices of goods in the shops are within the range of everybody. I shall not refuse to buy anything this week because it is too expensive. I shall not say things are hard in Ghana.
Every time dumsor strikes and my Christmas lights go off, I go into a mind over matter mode. I do not get angry, I do not curse the President; I shout: Merry Christmas, Mr President, goodwill to you and to all men.
I want him to know that he might be powerful, he might be beyond criticism from all of us mere mortals except those who are keeping him company on the metro mass buses, but he will not spoil my Christmas.
The Chief of Staff might want us to think that the members of the government are not celebrating Christmas or enjoying themselves, as for me and my household we are spreading good cheer around. My determined good spirits will continue throughout the festive season.
The only thing that could possibly ruin it all would be if the President should try to issue one of those statements wishing us a Merry Christmas. Even then I will keep a straight face, but if he should make a single promise in that Christmas message, I am afraid my celebrations will be over.