Chop can be translated as eat, food, or cut.“Chop a chop” is a Pidgin English phrase which means one turn deserves another. Chop a chop can also mean “scratch my back I scratch your back” This implies again that one turn deserves another. A better way to put it is ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER GOOD TURN. Therefore there is nothing wrong or immoral with chop a chop or scratch my back I scratch your back per say. What makes these phrases good or bad is the context in which they are used.
As such this blog is dedicated to address the issue of tribalism, embezzlement, bribery and corruption disregard for the law and unfruitful elections. Chop a Chop has lead to some of the poverty, joblessness political, religious, and social economic woes that are facing Cameroon and other third world countries.
It is no longer a secret most of the third world countries are plagued with poverty, bad governance, bribery and corruption. One way possible explanation is that these countries practice the wrong form of chop a chop. I said chop a chop, because for bribery to occur, they have to be a giver and a receiver. The giver is motivated by the benefit (chop) while the receiver is also motivated by the rewards (chop) the bribe with bring.
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Paul Collier in his book "The Bottom Million", talking of the poorest countries of the world most of which are in Africa , he identifies four sources of their plight which he calls traps. They are;
1. The conflict trap - civil wars and auto-destructive behaviors
2. Natural traps - Natural catastrophes including draught, famine, floods and tornadoes
3. Land locked traps involving countries that have no accessibility to the sea for international trade,
4. Bad governance trap - this is where chop a chop comes in when we consider it in terms of embezzlement, fraud, capital flight, and positioning incompetent persons in positions of influence.
Each of us Africans have to start looking at what we can do to help our continent out of its plight. May the Lord help us!
Dr Daniel SHU
Director Haggai Institute
Francophone Africa
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