By Charles Sarpong Amponsah
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, addressed the nation on the State of the economy on Sunday, October 30, 2022.
In his address, he gave updates on the economy and announced measures taken by the government to relieve Ghanaians of hardships.
Among other things, he urged Ghanaians not to talk down the cedi, avoid negative speculation about the currency and help strengthen it. This, he claims, will contribute to its woes.
President Akufo-Addo used a French proverb to make the point.
“Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down.”
Also, the proverb, shared in a tweet, gathered more than 6,000 likes and 3,300 shares at the time of writing (here).
The Twi form of the proverb—Sika mpɛ dede—has got Ghanaians reacting to the address. Social media users have also been sharing their views about the address.
See the reactions below:
Sika mp3 dede 😂😂😂😂
I for feature this man la 😂— SHATTA WALE (@shattawalegh) October 31, 2022
Sika mp3 dede.
I now understand why I’m broke😩😩😩— Rachel Ankomah (@RachelAnkomahRL) October 31, 2022
Sika mp3 dede but you are the dede. Addo D please come again and say something of substance. Audio man
— EFIAODO (@Efiaodo1) October 31, 2022
So, Prez Akufo-Addo says he knows the increasing cost of living is a concern for Ghanaians, but money doesn’t like noise so if we keep complaining about the crisis, there’ll be unrest and we won’t find money.
In summary, I KNOW YOU’RE SUFFERING BUT SIKA MP3 DEDE SO SHUT UP!!! 😂
— Mirpuri🌟 (@InterBoy1908) October 30, 2022
Have you ever heard a music play in a bank? Sika mp3 dede ampa 😂 Addo D was right 😂
— Ameyaw’s lawyer (@Never_mind975) October 31, 2022
Fellow Ghanaians. Stop shouting Eeei because sika mp3 dede https://t.co/td9TBoC4NM
— Cowboy Journalist (@UmaruSanda) October 30, 2022
“sika mpɛ dede”
Looks like this statement is the key take away by many people from the address.
— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) October 30, 2022
Fact-check
Using open-source research, it was discovered that the President tweeted about “Sika” during the Mills-Mahama administration. Here are some tweets we discovered:
The question on the lips of Ghanaians is this: na sika no wo he ne? Where is the money?
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) February 7, 2012
President Mahama, the people of #Ghana want to know: where is the over GH¢48 billion your government has spent? Na sika no wo hene?
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) November 13, 2012
This government has borrowed more money than all other governments put together in 52 years. We must all ask, “na sika no wo hene?” #Ghana
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) October 11, 2012
Within 3 years, they have tripled the national debt. Misi sika no wo he??
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) February 18, 2012
