Not for the first time, and certainly not the last, I am confused by the nature of police work and how some policemen and women understand their own work.
My confusion is deepened by not knowing whether the attitudes of police personnel are informed by general policy or simply their own personal approach to work. Here is a case in point, from the AIRPORT POLICE STATION, but first, the background:
As we all know, traffic lights in Accra have become mini markets that attract all kinds of hawkers and hustlers who take advantage of the mandatory stop on red to sell everything from groundnuts to car parts.
This practice started more than 30 years ago when a few young men started selling dog chains around the then Tetteh Quarshie Circle. This activity coincided with the opening up of East Legon as a residential area for the newly rich of the time.
They needed dogs to protect them. The dogs needed chains and where demand exists, supply pops up. Thus the dog chain market by the roadside.
In the beginning, there were a few newspaper articles on the new phenomenon, said to have been imported from Nigeria, but the police and city authorities took no action and the market began to boom.
Handkerchief people joined in, then “iced water”, fruits and pies sellers saw their chance. Eventually, hardware sellers moved in paving the way for every conceivable “genuine fake” from the People’s Republic of China. Disabled people staked out their places as did general-purpose beggars.
A few years ago, following a lead provided by Dr. Doris Yaa Dartey, a communication specialist with interest in these matters, I decided to count the number of such roadside hawkers between Opeibea House and Golden Tulip on the Independence Avenue in Accra.
It was not difficult because the traffic was heavy and motion at a snail’s pace. I stopped my counting when I got to 400; just worn out by the effort after less than 200 yards.
By and large this business has become part of our culture, at least in the nation’s capital. Thousands of people are selling goods, usually Chinese fakes of well known brands along the principal streets of Accra with no regard to safety and comfort of motorists, passengers and pedestrians, including their own. They do this right under the noses of police officers who are being “visible” at the very street corners where these hawkers operate.
The worst situation is that of disabled people who wheel themselves between vehicles on some very low contraptions that are no more than three inches off the ground. They are putting their lives and those of other people at risk but I have seen the police cruise by on motorcycles and in cars without even a simple warning.
No civilized society should allow its own members, especially those with such obvious challenges to place themselves in harm’s way in this fashion.
But it is not all the people parading themselves along the main roads that are honest hawkers looking to make a living. Some are crooks and petty thieves simply trying to take advantage of the situation.
Among the bad lot is a group of usually young men who rush to clean car windscreens without even asking whether a driver wanted the job done or not.
This windscreen cleaning shenanigan is a worldwide phenomenon. The boys are collectively known as “squeegee merchants” and the Urban Dictionary defines one as “a person who hijacks your car at red traffic lights, aggressively cleaning your already-clean car windows and then demanding cash. It is also a term of mild abuse”.
Everywhere in the world, such squeegees are frowned upon because of their aggressive character and other bad activities, including stealing from cars.
The one habit they all share is fear of the police. Not in Ghana. In every major city in the world where these people operate, they make a quick dash away when they see a police squad car or a police officer on foot approaching. Here, they mingle with the police as they go about their harassment of motorists and clog up our few pavements.
Last Monday, one very aggressive and rude squeegee approached my car at the airport junction traffic lights at about six in the evening. Without as much as a glance in my direction he started cleaning my car windscreen.
Since their intention is not to leave you with a clean windscreen but bother you with money demands, they usually leave smudges on the screen so I normally switch on my wiper to deter them. On this occasion I just sat for him to finish and go.
As expected he came to my side of the car to make hand-mouth-gestures asking for money. I sat still and stared ahead, quite angry. He gathered more boys around him and together made threatening gestures at me as I did my best to ignore them.
The traffic lights were not working (as usual) and the traffic policemen were being rather slow getting us to go. When one of the policemen became free, I beckoned him and asked why
