Back The Missing American
Chapters (109)
  1. Part One
  2. ONE
  3. One day earlier
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. PART TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EIGHTY-TWO
  86. EIGHTY-THREE
  87. EIGHTY-FOUR
  88. EIGHTY-FIVE
  89. EIGHTY-SIX
  90. EIGHTY-SEVEN
  91. EIGHTY-EIGHT
  92. EIGHTY-NINE
  93. NINETY
  94. NINETY-ONE
  95. NINETY-TWO
  96. NINETY-THREE
  97. NINETY-FOUR
  98. NINETY-FIVE
  99. NINETY-SIX
  100. NINETY-SEVEN
  101. NINETY-EIGHT
  102. NINETY-NINE
  103. GLOSSARY
  104. Acknowledgments
  105. Continue reading
  106. Part One
  107. ONE
  108. TWO
  109. THREE

Traditionally, Sana’s exposés always aired Sunday nights at 8 p.m. Emma had invited Bruno to watch at her house along with Abena, who would be over for the usual Sunday dinner. At 8 p.m., with Kojo safely in bed, they gathered in front of the TV in anticipation of Sana Sana’s new blockbuster, “The Sakawa Story: Power, Corruption, and Deceit.” Bruno knew in advance about the big IGP reveal at the end, but he hadn’t let on to Emma or Abena.

There was far more to the feature than just video clips of people accepting money. It reintroduced the viewers to Sana’s work, which had an increasingly global perspective. His signature slogan, “Name, Shame, and Jail” was repeated often. The show went on to examine Sakawa from its early beginnings in Nigeria, where it was called “419” after a section in Nigeria’s criminal code. The origins dated to much earlier than most people realized—as far back as 1920. Now, the notorious old 419 scams with Nigerian “princes” were all but gone, replaced by more effective Internet scams. Over the decades, online fraud transformed itself from a clunky, unreliable tro-tro to a powerful Bentley.

Sana showed how many millions of dollars sakawa was now worth, and why it was too much of a good offer for politicians and corrupt law enforcement to refuse. The essential infrastructure for corruption in Ghanaian society was already well in place and primed to take sakawa on, like a highway with an available extra lane.

How and why does Internet fraud involve mallams, traditional priests, and the like? Because they are the people who can invest the Internet fraudster with the magical powers that will bring the money pouring in. The documentary showed a clip of Kweku Ponsu performing some of his sakawa rituals, including one in which he whirled around hundreds of times while dressed in ceremonial cloth and covered in white powder from head to toe.

Then to the heart of the feature where prominent members of society were exposed one after the other. The coup de grace was Bruno’s segment from the Mövenpick penthouse, where “Godfather” made his appearance. Although Bruno had not recognized him at the time, he now knew. Godfather was none other than James Akrofi, the IGP. Abena jumped out of her chair in shock. Emma, for her part, was speechless. Bruno, his face almost back to normal, smiled with secret pride. It was, after all, he who was responsible for the stunning footage to the world. But by agreement, neither Bruno nor Emma would reveal that to Abena. The less people knew, the better.

At the end of the movie, there was so much for the trio to discuss. They argued furiously with each other until they were exhausted.

“But you know one funny thing?” Abena added. “In the video, that guy—the fetish priest, what’s his name, Kweku Bonsu?”

“Ponsu,” Bruno said. “What about him?”