We've been married 44 years and our anniversary turned out anything but what we expected. After Gary's early morning bike ride, we took our usual morning walk through the jungle paths. The rainy season is slowly starting to fade away and it seems to be getting hotter each day. We planned on having a relaxed morning but we did have several little errands that needed attending to in town. Just as we were leaving, President Owusu called and said we needed to meet Alex (one of the members) at Auntie Mary's house right away.
When we arrived at her little shack, Alex and Effah were waiting for us. They jumped in the back seat and told us we had to go to the police station right away. Well, we've been to the Sunyani Police Station and it wasn't a great experience to say the least. They hemmed and hawed and skirted the issue, but we finally found out that Wilson, the Elder's Quorum President, and one of his roommates named Fred had been arrested in their house at 4 in the morning and hauled to lock-up.
Come to find out there had been an escalating fight at their complex the night before. Several families and individuals all rent rooms in this house. A young girl in her twenties had accused Fred of stealing her phone. Phones are the one thing Ghanaians value--phones are their lifeline and communication with the world and they all have them, no matter how poor they are. There are no newspapers; most don't drive or own a car; television is out of Accra and very mediocre and downright stupid. Phones are IMPORTANT to them!
The fight had escalated, like most disagreements here in Ghana, and somehow Wlson interjected his two cents worth and the girl "disrespected" him and "insulted" him, and he smacked her around a bit. Wife beating is very common in Ghana and somewhat expected if a woman "disrespects" a man. She in turn went to the police, pressed charges, and the two young men were arrested--as they should have been.
However, now comes the bottom line. They were thrown in jail--a dingy, filthy room with no windows and only one barred door. There are no chairs nor toilets--it's dark and reeks of urine and who knows what else. The prisoners are left there with no food (sometimes for days) and then if no one approaches the CID (I don't know what that stands for) they go to prison. Wilson was in line to spend two years--no trial--just a court appearance and then lock-up.
We met with the CID, a rather bossy, heavier-set woman and she told Gary and me to go away and let Alex handle it. Then she left and went to town for a few hours. We took Alex to get some food for the guys. It was then about 2 pm. We left Alex there and went on our errands and returned a couple of hours later to see what had transpired--NOTHING! We then approached the CID; she had returned and she again put us off--told us to leave. We persisted however, very respectfully, and finally for 20 cedis, they released the young men. Alex is trying to reach the girl and see if she will drop the charges and then let Wilson work out a private kind of restitution with her. By now, several of their friends had arrived and we were told that they never release prisoners that quickly or for that small amount of bail. They said the only reason they were let out was because the "old obrunis" went to bat for them.
Then as we were backing up to leave, we ran into a parked car and dented the fender--a major uprising again! People kept congregating and yelling and expressing their opinions very loudly, even if they hadn't even seen the accident! Because we are so white and visible and stick out, everyone seems to know where we are and what we are doing. Members from all of the Branches began showing up at the police station. They just saw us and stopped by. Owusu had arrived a little earlier and had seen the accident. He and the owner of the car were screaming at each other and then all of a sudden, Owusu jumped in his car and the guy with the smashed fender followed him in his vehicle and they both left. We just sat there--didn't know what to do. Here we are at the police station, are involved in an accident that was clearly our fault, and then they leave. We found out later that Owusu had the guy follow him to a friend's garage to see what it would cost to fix the dent and told him we would pay for it.
We were thoroughly disgusted with Wilson and feels he really needs to learn a lesson--that regardless of what the situation is or what is said, it never should escalate into physical violence. That said, two years in a Ghanaian prison without a trial seems a little steep for a split lip. We think he should be accountable at any rate.
We finally drove home--having spent the whole day at the police station--a place I never wanted to see again and truly hope we never have the misfortune of going to again in the future.
UPDATED NOTE: The fender cost us about 55 cedis ($30). Alex signed for Wilson. Wilson claims he never struck the girl--only pushed her. Wilson has skipped town--we think he's somewhere in Accra. If he doesn't come back or get her to drop the charges, Alex might have to go to prison. What a nightmare--this justice system!
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