Taxi driver banned from driving for two years

Kumasi, July 16, GNA - A Kumasi Circuit Tribunal on Thursday banned a 26-year-old taxi driver, Solomon Gyamfi, from driving for two years. In addition, the Tribunal Chairman, Mr Joseph A. Abanga, fined Gyamfi 1.7 million cedis or serve 18 months' imprisonment in hard labour.

Gyamfi was sentenced on his own plea on four counts of careless driving, causing harm to Police Corporal Charles Ohene Asomaning of the Central Motor Traffic Unit (MTU) in Kumasi, failing to report an accident and failing to attend to injured policeman. In his ruling,

Mr Abanga said Gyamfi is sentenced to a fine of 1.5 million cedis or in default serve 12 months in hard labour, one million cedis out of the amount, if paid, should be given to Corporal Asomaning on the first two counts.

On the two other counts, Gyamfi was sentenced to 100,000 cedis fine or in default serve three months on each count to run consecutively. Police Inspector John K. Afful, prosecuting, told the tribunal that on Sunday, July four, this year, Corporal Asomaning in the company of four other policemen were on patrol within the Kumasi metropolis.

When the policemen reached the Suntreso Roundabout, popularly called Sofoline Roundabout, they met the accused who had parked his taxi-cab and was picking passengers in a prohibited area.

The prosecutor said when Corporal Asomaning got down to arrest him, he knocked the policeman who fell on the car's bonnet. With the policeman still on the bonnet of his car, accused went round the Suntreso roundabout several times.

At a certain spot the car jerked and the policeman fell from the bonnet and got injured in the right leg. He said the accused then sped off without attending to the injured policeman or reporting the accident to the police.