Editorial: Vanderpuye�s Boys Are Thieves

Break the traffic regulation on parking, and you will instantly make the young men, known as AMA taskforce, �700,000 (GH�70) richer. This is the story in Ghana�s capital today. Men employed by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to enforce traffic regulations have turned their jobs into a money making venture, where they arrest and extort monies from offenders. The notorious unit among these rampaging extortionists, dressed in AMA uniforms, is the one stationed around the Kotoka International Airport (KIA). Drivers arrested for wrong parking are marched to their station, just beside Antrak Air offices at KIA, where they are asked to pay between �1,000,000 (GH�100) AND �500,000 (GH�50). Cars which are cramped, and towed to the Airport yard pay between �1,200,000 (GH�120) and �700,000 (GH�700). The amount paid, per se, does not worry The Informer. Our concern is no receipt is issued after the payment. Conscious drivers who insist on collecting receipts are told to go to the office of the Mayor, Mr Alfred Vanderpuye, on the High Street, for their receipts. Issuance of receipts, for such charges levied on traffic offenders is a normal practice in many countries. It is therefore unheard of that receipts cannot be issued for payments made by offending drivers. After monitoring this development for a while, we have every reason to believe that the gentlemen that Mayor Vanderpuye has mandated, to arrest and levy traffic offenders, are pocketing the revenues meant for the state. Judging by the number of cars, especially taxi cabs that have been arrested by the Airport branch of the taskforce, the AMA will have no reason to go to central government for additional funds to manage the city. Should Mayor Vanderpuye fail to straighten these men, he will have himself to blame. The Informer encourages such initiatives, which will encourage discipline on our roads and at the same time rake in much needed revenue for the government. We however abhor the attitude of the Vanderpuye boys who are milking revenues meant for the state. We a wondering why the AMA boss should charge his men with responsibility of collecting levies without giving them receipt books. The taskforce should be giving chits, which they will issue to traffic offenders or be given receipt books, in order to ensure that the monies collected are returned to the state. For now, we have every reason to believe, they are stealing the monies.