Goods that refute Basic Economic Theory in Ghana

"When we are looking for God, we should not look far from nature". It gives food, air, medicine or health, shelter and many others. This is a quote I have developed the time I received messages on Rainforest protection initiative which forms intrinsic part of Africa, thus livelihood of communities in Ghana. 

 God in his own benevolent mind provides humanity with natural resources to feed them. These resources some are harvested in sustainable environment and replenish itself periodically without human intervention. 

Despite, I have not grossly ingrained academically in economic science but I have studied some basic principles during my tertiary education. Mostly, when our lecturers are teaching economics, the fundamental theory or term used to describe goods was normal or inferior, they used salt as the most common example to explain goods that does not followed the trends of income-straining goods on consumers. 

When salt is being used, it mostly rekindles my imagination during my travels from southern part of Volta Region through Ada to Accra. Anytime, we reached Ada foah or Kasseh the first thing that welcomes us is their flood of salts that laced almost every part of the street whether on the tables or hands or heads of carriers, especially women.

 It was one of the key to indigenous women empowerment. It was the livelihood of thousands in Ada and its environs. Many families mine it for their survival and even become the key aspect of their local economy development. 

But now it has been taken and given to private developer through influence of local and national powers which makes it to transit from thousand beneficiaries to very sizable people. This is public goods not paternal or maternal or cronist inheritance but for everyone in the community and the general public. 

After, interactions with some salt miners in Ada, I decided to visit market and asked for salt prices or on Ada street, to my surprise salt is refuting the basic economic theory, that when our income rises we do not spend much on salt but it is competing with the prices of maize or sugar or beans or vegetables etc. or above the prices of some goods.

 This private takes over has rendered thousands jobless. If the Bible says the evil under the sun, it was not referring to any invisible beings but visible ones. Some of the ordinary people who dedicated their lives to voice the concerns of the people have been put to eternity of silence but let us remember that even Niccolo Machiavelli could not live beyond age of stone today we may have power to do things but tomorrow will become powerless as babies. 

The wealth and values as hereditary are permanent only when masses have their regular shares from them. What is our testimonies for centuries to come? I leave us with this rhetorical question?