Reports about the upsurge of mobile phone stealing gangs in Accra recently was just one of those little stories you read on Internet websites that makes you feel sorry for Ghana.
Deputy Director of Police Public Affairs, Kwesi Ofori was cornered to admit that the rampant stealing of mobile phones in Accra and some parts of the country "came to a level where the police needed to act..."
The story received prominence even on a BBC News website, after being featured on the international broadcaster's Global Perspective programme. It all looked as if every adventurous young person in Accra on a motor bike could pass for a mobile phone snatcher. A closer look reveals though that mobile phone thieves are not in Ghana alone. They are found in many European countries, including Italy, Finland and particularly the United Kingdom. It can't be said that most of the thieves who steal mobile phones in Europe are Ghanaians. The Ghanaian thieves simply remain back home to engage in the apparently lucrative criminal business. The sad thing is that the thieves are not the first to see the stolen phones when they arrive in Ghana. The phones go through a complex "legitimate" business process and subsequently purchased the unending stream of Ghanaian mobile phone users. That is when the busy mobile phone snatchers on the street get their windfall. If you happen to know a little about mobile phones, you will also know that technology allows it to take different shapes and advanced capabilities pretty fast. So if you acquired a phone two years ago, you might as well consider throwing it into the bin. The mobile phone snatchers might not be interested in it - they prefer the sleek ones with camera, MP3 player etc, which their proud owners in Ghana love to show off. Its known that gangs of boys, sometimes riding on motorcycles look out for those holding their expensive mobile phones for the world to see. The snatching is done in the open, and quiet efficiently and it has been described as being like a scene from a movie.
The Police have said they are taking action to halt it, but they just cannot get people to be careful enough to deter would-be snatchers. And the Ghana Police need not feel overwhelmed anyway. After years of anti-mobile phone theft, the Metropolitan Police in London still say about ten thousand mobile phones are successfully stolen every month. And those ten thousand are the reported cases. With Accra's population nearing four million, if not more, the Police say the reported cases were 417 in 2005. Of course, fewer people in Accra own mobile phones, whereas most people in London may have one. It is not not exactly about statistics, but about human vices: people living everywhere experience cases of mobile phone stealing/snatching.
As a result, any surge in mobile phone ownership would naturally be be accompanied by a corresponding surge in stealing/snatching. It gets worse when people try to make status statement by showing off their phones. Showing it off at some points can be tempting, especially when it is a top-of the range model. I have showed off my own in the past, on more than one occasion. The one I am using now has been ringing since 2001, so it doesn't even look like a mobile phone in 2006. So I refrain from showing it off, not because it might get snatched. Cute, isn't it?
In any case, Deputy Director of Police Public Affairs, Kwesi Ofori says "we have reduced phone robbery to a level which is encouraging." I would have loved to be on the same page with Mr. Ofori on this. But I find myself wondering what is meant by that the phone robbery has has been reduced to an "encouraging" level?
Encouraging for what? Hopefully, not for more people to consider stealing. May be its encouraging for the sake of arguing that Ghana is not alone in what must be a global mobile phone stealing business.
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