Ghana’s best investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas has shown surprising and shocking film in which corrupt officials at the Ghana’ Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority has issued a valid driving license to a mad man.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority is Ghana’s State institution mandated with issuing valid driving license to drivers and registrations of vehicles.
But bribery and corruption has taken over the institution as it issue license and register vehicles without going through the right procedures once the person can pay a fee.
Anas was able to procure valid driving license for the mad man, physically challenge person and market woman who were not all present at the Driver and Vehicle License Authority to be examine by the authorities.
The film was titled “Soul Takers’’ and was showed in the capital Accra, where a number of dignitaries attended including members of parliament, religious bodies, civil society organizations and international ant-corruption organizations such as UKAID and USAID.
The NationalTurk’s Issaka Adams was among the people who watched the video and reports that people were shocked at what they saw in the video. Approximately 1000 people watched the first premiering of the film at Ghana’s National Theatre.
Anas secretly film those involved in these corrupt practices covertly with hidden cameras across Ghana where at each region of the country, he disguises himself as somebody who is in need of a driving license either for himself for his family member.
In the Northern Region of Ghana, Anas took a passport size photo of a mad man and presented it to the authorities and told them he wanted a driving license for his brother. Pretending that the mad man is his brother.
He was charged a fee more than four times the approved fee. They took his detail and proceeded to issue the driving license. Anas secretly recorded them with his secret hidden video camera. Ghana’s licensing law stipulates that the person applying for the driving license should be able to read and write, physically well and be present to take some tests.
Anas again recorded several of such incidents in different parts of the country using the same tactics he used in the Northern Region and secretly recorded all the events. Everywhere he went, all he needed to do was to provide passport size photos of the person he wants the driving license for, and after he has paid the money they demand, the license is issued.
The video explicitly showed how those corrupt officials took monies and totally abandoning the laid down procedures in procuring a driving license.
More than 1,600 people died through road accident last year in Ghana as a result of reckless driving and indiscipline on the highways.
Official figure also shows that between January 2000 and December 2010, a total of 20,503 people died through road accidents while 63,384 were reported injured which medics say is far more than deaths caused by HIV/AIDS or violent crimes. Road accidents have been the soul takers of the Ghanaian population.
Critics in the past have attributed the deaths to authorities at the Licensing Authority for not observing the rules before issuing driving license to drivers.
Many people expressed worry after watching the film and public outrage against these corrupt officials has increased in the capital, Accra.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas studied journalism at the Ghana Institute of Journalism before studying law at the University of Ghana. He is known for disguising himself in his works which all bother on serious Human Rights violation and corruptions.
He has won many local and international awards as a result of his works.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
[adrotate group=”15″]
