Police prevent ‘Sakawa’ race at La

THE Police last Sunday, May 25, 2009 raided the La Trade Fair site and prevented a group of people described as ‘Sakawa boys’ from engaging in a motor and car race.
Unhappy by the action of the police, the spectators, numbering more than 4,000 pelted the police personnel with stones which compelled them to call for reinforcement.
In the ensuing confrontation, the police took away two motorbikes and arrested two boys for their alleged involvement in the stone-throwing spree in which the windscreen of a police pickup with registration number GP 2406 was smashed.
The action by the police was motivated by an incidence at a similar show by the group on Sunday, May 17, 2009 in which a 26-year-old woman was killed in an accident.
The woman, whose name was given by the La Police as Mary Ayeley Oboshie-Sai, died shortly after she was knocked down by a trotro vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was said to be imitating movements of the group at the show.
In an interaction, some of the spectators said they would not be deterred by the police and that the police’s action would only prevent them from the day’s event.
Even though some of the people told the Daily Graphic that the race was put together by some benevolent individuals in the community as a means of creating entertainment for the folks in the area, it was later found out that the show was rather organised by some ‘Sakawa boys’.
When contacted at the La Police Station, the Divisional Commander, DSP Yao Tettehgah, confirmed the death of the young woman in an accident, but assured the public that the police acted to stop the race in the interest of the public, and called for their co-operation to curb the activities of the such boys.
DSP Tettegah said the organisers of the programme had no permission to put up such a programme and mentioned that it was dangerous for the public.