Police Adventures

We had some exciting/funny experiences with the police this weekend...

On Saturday, we drove up to Aburi Gardens, passing by Bob Marley's wife's house (!!!), stopping in a wood carving village to watch how everything is done and then exploring and buying crazy gifts, visiting the first cocoa plantation in Ghana, and finally touring the botanical gardens. The trip was amazing, and it was great to get out of the city and see more green than red and brown. As we drove back from the trip, traffic was slowed as we passed one of the many police checkpoints you see in Ghana (I still can't really figure out what they're looking for; Ghanaians have told me guns, drugs, criminals, etc.). Being the tourists that we are, one of the people in my program was taking pictures out the window of the bus at a small child waving, and the police immediately pulled us over and yelled at the driver. One of the program guides grabbed the camera and went outside to talk to the policeman, who claimed that we were taking pictures of the police (which is apparently illegal) and insisted that he confiscate the camera. The guide flipped through the pictures, proving that we were not taking pictures of the police, but rather of the children, and the policeman still insisted he take the camera. This resulted in a lot of yelling and crazy gestures, which eventually ended with something holding our program guide back from the policeman and pushing him back in the van. After that, we were allowed to go.

It's weird to be surrounded by police that believe bribery to be a completely normal part of life. At any given police check, you can be pulled over, told there is something illegal in your car (even if there isn't) and charged cash money on the spot to avoid anymore trouble. It's pretty unsettling, and kind of a double edged sword for white people. While they know that foreigners are too afraid to resist the police or commit any crime (for fear of ending up in jail without a fair trial), they also know that most foreigners come from countries where police bribery is strictly forbidden, and that they are unlikely to hand money over willingly.

It happened again on Saturday night when Ama, a Ghanaian friend of ours, took us to a Chinese restaurant. When we made a wrong turn, we ended up in a heavily guarded parking lot, and were immediately pulled over. They asked for the driver's license, which (sorry Mom!) she doesn't have. They weren't speaking in English, so I'm not sure exactly what was said, but when they realized she would not produce the license, they demanded she give them money. In the car, Mallory, Julie, Lindsay and I are stressing out because in the States if you don't have a license you are in a ton of trouble. However, Ama was able to convince the officers that she shouldn't have to pay them, and we drove off with them in a huff. Ama laughed about the whole thing, and told us that the man that had pulled us over was a "baby police" and he was just trying to feel big and important. About 5 minutes later the whole situation was funny, but in the car not so much. I'm guessing we can probably expect a lot more experiences like that in the future.

I've started taking more pictures of my house and family, so once I can put pictures up on Wednesday I'll be sending them out!