By: John S. Morlu II, CPA
Ghana is beautiful — but not everyone came here to build. Some came to “borrow” — your trust, your money, and sometimes even your soul. Welcome to the wild world of Sakawa, Ghana’s remix of internet fraud, spiritual confusion, and Gucci belts.
What Is Sakawa?
Sakawa is what happens when you mix online scamming (a.k.a. Yahoo Yahoo) with traditional juju rituals. It’s like Silicon Valley meets shrine.
Here’s how it allegedly works:
- Step 1: Scam someone online (romance scam, fake contract, fake NGO)
- Step 2: Go to a spiritualist to “bless” the transaction
- Step 3: Wear red underwear and sacrifice a goat (maybe two)
- Step 4: Wait for money to appear (and sometimes it does)
Modern-Day Yahoo Boys
You’ll find them in nightclubs with bottles of Moët, dressed in fake Versace, with iPhones that only work on Wi-Fi. They drive borrowed Benzes and throw dollars in the air like they just discovered gravity.
But don’t be fooled — these are hustlers in Gucci drag. Their real office is WhatsApp, their HR department is Telegram, and their investor pitch is a sob story to a lonely American widow.
Fun Fact: One Sakawa boy was caught using Google Translate to seduce a German grandmother. He thought “Ich liebe dich” meant “Send me $1,000.” It did not.
Juju + Wi-Fi = Chaos
The strange part? Many truly believe in the rituals. They’ll wear rings blessed by “mallams,” avoid pork for a month, and fast every Tuesday… all while catfishing people online.
Some even go on fasting retreats to ‘reset their scam energy.’ A few Sakawa boys swear that coconut water boosts PayPal performance.
The Tragic Side
But behind the bling lies brokenness. Depression, arrests, and disappearances are common. Some get rich, most don’t. And the spiritual backlash? Whew.
One guy reportedly saw a snake in his toilet every time he logged into his fake PayPal account. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.
Another one claimed his laptop burst into flames right after successfully scamming someone — only to find out the “blessing” from the shrine came with an expiration date.
Why It Matters
This isn’t just about crime. It’s about desperation. Ghana has a youth unemployment problem. And when talent meets poverty and opportunity doesn’t show up — scams start looking like startup pitches.
The solution isn’t just arrests. It’s opportunity.
Give young people real tools, real chances, real dignity — and maybe the only thing they’ll be sacrificing is a bad CV.
Until then… keep your passwords safe, your grandma offline, and your dollars protected.
This is Ghana — where even the scams wear dashikis.
Author: John S. Morlu II, CPA is the CEO and Chief Strategist of JS Morlu, leads a licensed public accounting and management consultancy firm. He has more than 20 years of professional experience in auditing and advisory work, including service as Auditor General of Liberia and FAR and DCAA compliance work at Unisys Federal Systems. The firm’s technology products include AI-powered reconciliation software (ReckSoft.com) and advanced cloud accounting solutions (FinovatePro.com), built for finance and operations teams.