Is the AMA resorting to entrapment?
On Tuesday, August 24, 2016, I was meeting a friend at the Dansoman Market (‘Control Market’) and I got there at about 9.35 a.m. I parked at the bus stop, the long parking area in front of the market.
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While waiting, I got down to buy some food, ‘waakye’, from a seller whose stand is behind the bus stop, which took not more than five minutes. I came back to my car to find one of the front tyres clamped, with a young man in a khaki uniform standing by the car.
I couldn’t believe my ears when he told me that I had parked in an “unauthorised parking area”. I explained to him that “I only got down to buy food, ‘waakye’, which, as you see I’m holding in my hand; moreover, I didn’t even know we’re not supposed to park here.”
Where else could one park if not in a space obviously designed for motorists who come to the market? His reply was: “behind the market” because that bus stop was meant only for ‘tro-tro’ and taxis to just drop off or pick passengers.
My friend and I, as well as even the ‘waakye’ seller, all pleaded with him to be understanding, but he only said I should wait for his boss.
The boss in turn told me I would have to go to their office and talk to their ‘Commander’. I agreed and the young man got into my car to accompany me, I thought, to explain to the ‘Commander’ at their office.
When we arrived at their office at Mpamprom, Kaneshie, near the Metro Mass Transport Office, he reported to another officer who asked why I had parked at the bus stop and I explained. He asked whether I was given a ‘charge sheet’, and I told him that I had only been asked to come and see their ‘Commander’. He, too, asked me to wait for the ‘Commander’.
However, I waited for about an hour and a half without seeing any ‘Commander’. Instead, I was handed a ‘Penalty Charge Notice’ to pay GHȼ150.00.
“For what?!” I exclaimed.
“For parking at a bus stop,” I was told.
I asked angrily why if they were going to exact a fine, they didn’t do so at Dansoman. Why ask me to drive all the way from Dansoman to their office and also waste my time for close to two hours, without even seeing any ‘Commander’ only to give me a Penalty Charge Notice?
I was only lucky that I had on me someone’s money for an errand which I could borrow and pay.
While there, I noticed other people also in a similar predicament:
An elderly woman, who said she was in her 70s, was there for parking along the street opposite the Airtel office at the ‘Zodiac’ area of Dansoman. Like me, she was tricked to come to the office, ostensibly to see their ‘Commander’. She, too, was given a Penalty Charge Notice to pay GHȼ150.
She explained that the Airtel car park had been full. The clamping of her car had attracted sympathy from all around, so much so that a total stranger pleading on her behalf had offered some money to the AMA man, which he swiftly pocketed, but still went ahead to arrest her.
Another victim said he had stopped to buy a coconut to take to his wife on admission in hospital, and the coconut was in his hand when he was arrested.
The most annoying part is that they trick you to go to their office. Once your car enters their yard, there’s no way you can leave with your car until you have paid the fine. They will not listen to any explanation. You will have to pay.
I, too, wonder why the AMA has designated the market bus stop a ‘no-parking for private cars’ space without the courtesy of prior notice to Dansoman residents.
The only warning to motorists is what seems to be a new, not initially visible signboard at the entrance and end of the bus stop which says ‘NO PARKING FOR PRIVATE CARS. PARK AT THE MARKET CAR PARK’, with a small arrow pointing into the market. No penalty is stated.
In any case, if the AMA has staff lurking around the bus stop to ‘catch’ offending motorists, why can’t those same staff, for a grace period, be asked to just warn motorists off?
And interestingly, behind the market, on Shito Street (yes, that is the name), where the Dansoman Fire Station is located, there is no indication that it is the approved market parking place for private cars, no signboard.
Incidentally, the Airtel office in question has space for maybe a maximum of four cars, so where else should customers park if not on the street?
Interestingly, on Tuesday this week, which was a rainy day, when I went to the market in the afternoon, I noticed that a number of private cars were parked at the same bus stop, with no sign of the over-zealous AMA clamping crew in sight.
Does it mean that the ‘no-parking-here-for-private-cars’ edict applies only in the mornings?
Or is it that on wet days the zealousness of the staff to catch victims for their mysterious ‘Commander’ is rained off?
The city authorities should direct their staff that in dealing with people, a certain amount of common sense, applying regulations with a human face, is called for.
Above all, surely people are entitled to prior notice about a new regulation, or the enforcement of one; or a grace period before penalties are applied.