One-day Pragya job lands 22-year-old five years in jail

A 22-year-old commercial tricycle rider has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a Pragya valued at GH¢42,000 after being given the vehicle to operate for just one day.

The convict, identified as Ali Francis, was handed the sentence by the Nsuta Circuit Court in the Ashanti Region after he failed to return the commercial tricycle entrusted to him on September 12, 2026.

According to the prosecution, led by Detective Chief Inspector Favour Adukpoe, the complainant, Razak Antwi, is a commercial tricycle operator residing at Kyebi, while Francis, who also works as an auto-rickshaw rider, lives at Mampong.

The court heard that in August 2026, Antwi entrusted his Pragya, with registration number M-25-AP 598, to a witness, Yaw Badu, to operate for commercial purposes.

However, on September 12, 2026, at about 1:00 p.m., Badu, who was reportedly unwell, handed the tricycle over to Francis to operate for the day.

Francis was expected to return the vehicle after the day's work but allegedly disappeared with it to an unknown location and failed to account for its whereabouts.

Concerned about the missing tricycle, Antwi reported the matter to the Nsuta Police on September 14, 2026.

Police officers subsequently accompanied the complainant to Francis' residence at Mampong in an attempt to locate him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Francis was eventually brought before the Nsuta Circuit Court, where he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for stealing the GH¢42,000 commercial tricycle.

EA