So I've been trying out a new driver, and he seems to be doing quite well. He's attentive, he knows all the best shortcuts, he takes good care of the vehicle, and so far, he appears to be very honest.

He has also been brought up in a very typically Ghanaian way, and so my interactions with him often give me the chance to observe the best - and worst - of our social and cultural practices.

For instance, sometimes - not every day - I offer him a few cedis to get lunch or to catch a cab home after he has worked late. Invariably, whenever I do this, he says, "oh Boss, keep it please. I have some". Now, I know most of you are thinking, "Ah, what a well-mannered and dignified young man". Indeed, just like you, my parents also taught me not to accept handouts - especially not from strangers. I'm sure we all remember Mum and Dad telling us not to accept food from our friends' families when we went over to their homes to play, no matter how hungry we were. These are all examples of the Ghanaian cultural etiquette that gets ingrained in us from childbirth. But sometimes, we misapply these lessons.

When I interviewed my driver, he told me why he had left his old job. One of the reasons was insufficient salary, which he ended up spending almost entirely on transportation to and from work. This made it impossible for him to save anything. He also told me he had been out of work for at least a month by the time we met. Naturally, I put two and two together and realised that the young man was pretty much broke, so I made a conscious effort to help bridge the gap between now and his next paycheck. By pretending he was ok and didn't need help, he was certainly personifying Ghanaian Dignity, but he was also shooting himself in the foot.

Recently, we heard of the Methodist church asking its members to save the Methodist University from collapse. Now, I'm a Methodist. I know these financial problems didn't appear overnight. Why did my church's leaders wait until the University was at risk of collapse before asking for help from its members? Why did this conversation not start three years ago? Why was I not told that my church was broke? Why did they refuse to share the true nature of our problems, so we could find solutions together?

Last year, I interviewed the former CEO of Korle Bu, Reverend Okpoti Botchway. This man - a priest no less - sat in front of me and insisted that money was not a problem, and that the hospital had more than enough internally generated funds for himself and his directors to splurge on luxury vehicles without it affecting the hospital's ability to deliver health care to sick Ghanaians. A couple of months later, Korle Bu was considering closing down its Intensive Care Unit because (you guessed it) they couldn't afford to run it.

In March last year, our government denied warnings from the opposition's top economist, Dr Bawumia, that we were headed for an IMF programme. In August the same year, the government announced we were applying for an IMF bailout.

I recently read on social media about a top engineer in the United States Military, who happened to be of Ghanaian descent. Apparently, he wrote to the Ministry of Energy, offering practical help to end Dumsor. The ministry is reported to have written back to him, saying they had the situation under control, but if he wanted a job, he should apply to ECG.

My friends, there are too many examples of this behaviour to count. As a people, we are becoming far too good at getting in our own way and becoming obstacles to our own progress. What at all, is the benefit of pretending everything is fine, when it really isn't? If you don't tell your wife that it's been a bad year, how will she know she needs to cut back on the Brazilian hair, Italian shoes, Holland wax, French perfume, and whatever other products of whichever other countries whose GDP she has been shoring up with your dwindling income?

Kids are kids. They always have a huge wish list, but in these challenging times, it's not everything they dream of that we can provide. So why not tell them the truth? Instead of keeping up appearances and pretending to still be Big Daddy Cash, why don't you involve them in the cost-cutting process. Get them excited about discovering new ways to save money, and applaud them for being disciplined. Not only will you be easing the strain on your pocket, you'll also be teaching them valuable life lessons about how to prudently manage money.

People, these are tough times for individuals AND for the nation, yet, for every problem, there's someone out there with a solution. But they can't help you if they don't know you need help, so stop pretending and speak up.

My name is Kojo Yankson. What's your problem?

GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!