As Ghana looks for innovative ways to deal with her many problems, some traders at Odo Rice, near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle have also found a more productive way to deal with common thieves in the area.
What pertained in the past, by way of punishment to suspected thieves when they are unlucky to be apprehended, was to either lynch them or doll out a few slaps to their faces.
Those forms of punishments, as effective as they may be, are unproductive hence the decision by the residents to innovate.
The first suspected thief to benefit from this innovation was a young man who only gave his name as Kofi Yesu also known as Guy Guy.
Yesu allegedly entered a shop near the Odo Rice area while the shop’s owner was outside taking part in a regular cleaning exercise that is organised on the day set aside for such purposes – Sanitation Day.
Kofi Yesu succeeded in carrying a bag containing GH¢ 700.00 and an iPhone X cell phone, hid it underneath his clothes as he lurked in wait for an opportunity to bolt.
Luck, however, ran out for Kofi Yesu when the shop owner suspected his movement and confronted him.
To show that he was indeed a ‘guy’, Kofi Yesu spoke Hausa with a stern face that was expected to scare the shop owner.
As fate will have it, the shop owner who also speaks fluent Hausa, replied Kofi Yesu with equal sternness amidst further questioning.
It was based on the questions that the traders who had now gathered around Kofi, found out that all the Hausa he could speak were his first few words to the shop owner.
As questions flew in from all angles, Kofi Yesu confessed to stealing the bag, which he brought out from under his shirt.
According to an eyewitness, Kwame Destiny, who spoke to Adomonline.com in a telephone interview, at this point, the crowd called for his release so they could give him some beating but wise counsel prevailed as they agreed on a more productive punishment.
The residents agreed that as the day was earmarked for sanitation, Kofi Yesu is made to desilt the drains, a punishment he gladly accepted and undertook with his bare hands albeit diligently.
According to Destiny, the suspect told traders that he resided at Konkomba Market in Accra; therefore, when he was done with his punishment, the traders got him a motorbike with GH¢ 10.00 and bode him farewell with the advise that he sins no more.
