Two persons, Comfort Dartey, 32, and her father Kwame Addo, 60, who were arrested recently for operating a chop bar under the Pokuase Interchange have been convicted to a fine of GH¢420 by a Kaneshie District Court in Accra.
Comfort Dartey was charged for causing public nuisance and fined GH¢120.00 or in default go to jail for a week in hard labour by Ms. Ama Adomako Kwakye. She was also ordered to sign a bond to be of good behaviour for 12 months or in default serve a prison term.
Her father on the other hand was charged with offensive conduct and fined GH¢300 or serve a prison term of two weeks. He was also ordered to sign a bond to be of good behaviour for one year.
The two persons pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against them and expressed remorse for their conduct and pleaded for leniency.
A video which went viral on social media showed the two running a chop bar under the interchange.
This triggered a flurry of harsh remarks by a cross section of the Ghanaian public and media commentaries.
They were said to be operating the chop bar at night, a business which attracted a growing patronage from the public.
The spectacular seizure of their mortar and pestle did not go unnoticed.
A few days after the commissioning of the project, one of the lanes under the bridge was usurped by trotro drivers and foodstuff sellers.
When this came to the notice of the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, a rapid response team was dispatched to the location to clear the nuisance.
The emergence of the chop bar, which was said to be operating in the evening, was considered a nuisance which required immediate intervention.
The judicial action, it is expected, would stop the indiscipline from gaining a foothold.
This is the first time Ghanaians are venting their spleen on a single act of indiscipline towards a public investment, which is the multi-million dollar Pokuase Interchange.
Earlier, the Roads Minister and the Greater Accra Regional Minister Henry Quartey had visited the interchange and local transport union leaders were advised not to create a station for commercial vehicles so that the interchange is not turned into one.
By A.R. Gomda