An errant taxi driver who attempted to bribe a police officer with GHC 5 after committing a traffic violation was sentenced to two years in prison.
David Ayensu was most likely used to getting away with such offenses by simply paying the officers who arrested him. But his good fortune ran out when he was arrested by a Ghana Police Service officer from the Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD). When the officer pulled him over, he was driving with an expired driver’s license.
“My renewed license was seized by another police officer so I was using an old one. “I knew I had made a mistake, so when the officer took my expired license, I quickly took out Ghc 5 and filed it in an AMA operational card, which I handed to him,” he told crimecheckghana.org.
Surprisingly, the MTTD officer returned the money and the expired license to Ayensu, but his problems did not end there.
When Ayensu was about to drive away after the meager bribe was rejected, other colleagues of the patriotic officer told him to stop, but he ignored them, believing that his earlier attempt to bribe the first officer was sufficient to absolve him.
“The other officer chased me with a motorbike but I refused to stop even when some pedestrians prompted me. “I crossed the yellow light just as the officer caught up with me,” he explained.
Also read: Accra: Police officer arrested for reckless driving
The officers dragged him to their station, where he was charged with careless and irresponsible driving and then arraigned in court. He entered a guilty plea to the charges leveled against him.
“I was fined One Thousand Eight Hundred Ghana cedis but I could not pay. I was imprisoned at Ankaful Main Prison for two years.”
Fortunately for him, Ayensu was able to tell his story during one of the Crime Check Foundation’s visits to prisons.
Through its Petty Offenders project, the foundation later sought funding for his eventual release.
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