I have heard a lot of people share stories about their struggles with addiction. The way they describe their experiences makes it sound like they have no control over their lives once the addiction takes over. I have never been one to believe this is true. I always saw them as people who were not mentally strong enough to stop doing or consuming something that was clearly hurting them. “Addiction is not real. You just don’t have self-control,” I often said. It wasn’t until I had my own taste of addiction that I understood what it means to have your life ruled and ruled by something that you hate.

How did it all start? My answer is money. I am a young man who set out to do big things with my life. I had to take care of myself, my parents in the village, and a few relatives who called me once in a while to ask for favors. I was working but my salary was always delayed. The month would end but we wouldn’t get paid until we are two weeks into another month. This affected me greatly. I couldn’t help my parents whenever they needed me and I hated it. I couldn’t even help my own self sometimes. By the time I would receive my salary, I would have borrowed money from people. So I would then use my salary to settle my debts.

Out of frustration, I started sports betting. I didn’t win huge sums of money but I was grateful for what I got. It gave me something to depend on while my salary delayed. I calculated my profit and loss and saw that the odds were 50/50. I did not have much to lose. I could have managed it like that but I got greedy. I wanted a quicker way to make money.

I complained to a friend about my financial struggles and he mentioned an app to me. He said I could deposit money on the app, play games, and then win a lot of money. If I lost too, I would lose all my money. Because I was desperate, I decided to take my chances on this newfound app.

In 2022, one of my colleagues at work introduced me to his susu group. Everyone in the group contributes money at the end of the month and one person collects it. The goal is to rotate who collects the money until all five of us in the group get the money they contributed. I had plans for my money so I told them I would like to collect my money before everyone else gets theirs.

Immediately they handed over the money to me, I paid some of my bills and then deposited GH¢2000 into my app hoping to double it. Within a twinkle of an eye, that hope was dashed into a million pieces. I lost GHC1000 in no time. I bowed my head in shame and began to sweat profusely. A lady friend who saw me sweating in our air-conditioned office asked if anything was wrong. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth so I told her I wasn’t feeling well.

I hid in the washroom and cried. When I finished I called my friend who introduced me to the app and told him what happened. He told me, “It’s your first time so it’s understandable. But don’t worry, you will win your money back if you keep playing.” This gave me hope I could turn things around. So I went back into the app and started playing again. I won GHC500 and it encouraged me to keep playing. Within thirty minutes, I lost all my money.

I was so heartbroken. How was I supposed to survive? Bad thoughts started running through my mind. I have an uncle in Washington. I quickly sent him a message that I needed some money to sort out some issues with my passport. He didn’t ask any questions. He just sent me GHC500.

By this time, I was consumed by my desire to win my money back. So I stupidly logged into the app and deposited the money my uncle sent me. Within ten minutes that money was gone. That’s how I lost GHC2500 within an hour. How did I ruin my life so quickly? My entire day was disturbed. And it didn’t help matters when I received calls from my parents asking me for GH200.

I called my girlfriend, and she sent me GHC300. Instead of sending the money to my parents, I deposited it in the app again. It was gone in minutes. I hadn’t eaten the whole morning. I didn’t even have money to eat if I wanted to. I was in a state of dilemma. I had nobody to talk to.

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Because I was already down, I kept sinking lower. I contacted five of my closest friends and asked them for a loan. They gave me money and I deposited it onto the app again. I lost that one too. Then I went to borrow beans and money from a beans seller around my workplace. I ate the beans and lost the money to the app in another failed attempt to win my money back. I kept telling myself, “Maybe the next one will be different. Maybe I will win if I don’t give up now.”

This is the lie that led me to borrow GHC300 from MTN Qwikloan. I earned GHC2,800 out of this money. But I didn’t stop playing so I lost that one too. It was my girlfriend who came through for me.

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By the time I came to my senses, I was deep in debt. Within a period of four months, I took loans summing up to GHC8000. I started stealing from our shop to stake bets on the app but I only made losses. I kept borrowing from my friends till they all got fed up with me. I sold some of my stuff and still emptied my account all in the name of getting back what the app took from me. I am currently left with nothing but debts all over.

My girlfriend doesn’t ask me for anything but recently she asked me to buy her a service boot for work. I kept on giving her excuses until she got fed up. I want to reclaim my life and do things right. So I am here looking for another job. I would appreciate it if someone could connect me to a night-shift security job. That way I can depend on one job for survival, and the other for paying off my debts. I am dying slowly. Please, I need your help.

—Evans 

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