Traders at the Makola market in Ghana’s capital, Accra are using confidential documents meant to be in the safe custody of the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD). The traders claim officials of certain government departments sold the documents to them for use as waste paper.

Ghanaians have been known to be poor records keepers and nothing more could buttress that point than what the JOY-FM news team found at the market. Among the documents that were found used as wrappers by fish mongers was the form ‘A’ birth registration attachment to Ghanaian birth certificates.

Form ‘A’ is a confidential document kept safely, for official reference at the birth and death registry. These documents have however found their way into the wrong hands. They have rather been exchanged for money and fish.

On a lighter note, the hawkers who are mostly illiterates happen to be ignorant about the value of the paper they use in wrapping food. Such is the national attitude towards record keeping. Secret state documents therefore stand the chance of being given away more easily and this might create problems for the nation.