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Found at last …Man 63 jailed for bread tricycle theft
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What started as a simple act of assistance on a roadside turned into an elaborate theft that has hunted a Kumasi bread baker for months and ultimately land a 63-year-old man behind bars.
Oduro Zakaria, bread baker, never imagined that accepting help from a stranger would cost him his livelihood. On that February morning in 2024, the hardworking baker had loaded his tricycle with 114 freshly baked loaves worth Gh₵1, 680, ready for his usual delivery to customers at the Adehyeman lorry station.
As Zakaria navigated the busy Kumasi streets, his unregistered tricycle worth GH¢35,000, suddenly broke down. In that moment of vulnerability, what seemed like divine intervention appeared in the form of Adamu Alhassan.
“I’m a station master,” the 63-year-old trader assured the stranded baker. “Let me help you.”
Together, the two men pushed the heavy tricycle loaded with bread to the Kejetia MTN roundabout. Zakaria, grateful for the assistance, felt comfortable leaving his precious cargo in the care of his newfound helper while he searched for a mechanic.
“I thought I had met an angel,” Zakaria told friends. An hour later, when he returned with a mechanic, both his ‘angel’ and his entire livelihood had vanished into the bustling crowds of Kumasi.
The crushing realisation hit Zakaria like a thunderbolt. His helper was neither a station master nor even a worker at the station. He had been expertly conned by a man who preyed on his moment of need.
For months, Zakaria searched the streets of Kumasi, hoping against hope to spot either his tricycle or the man that stole his bread and tricycle.
On August 28, 2025, one and half years afterwards, fortune smiled on the baker. A witness spotted Alhassan at the very station where he had posed as an employee, and quickly alerted Zakaria.
Alhassan was arrested and handed over to the Ashanti Regional Anti-Armed Robbery Unit with his caution statement taken.
He confessed to selling Zakaria’s GH¢35,000 tricycle to a scrap dealer in Bremang for a measly GH¢700 – less than 2 per cent of its actual value.
The 114 loaves of bread? He had distributed them to random passers-by, perhaps in a twisted attempt to play the generous benefactor with stolen goods.
On September 12, the Kwadaso Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Jephthah Appau, sentenced Alhassan to five years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to theft.
Police Chief Inspector David Opoku Kwabi, presenting the facts, painted a picture of calculated deception that exploited human kindness and trust.
For Zakaria, the sentence brings some closure, but it cannot restore the months of hardship he endured or the innocence lost in trusting a stranger’s offer of help.
Alhassan’s five-year sentence reflects not just the monetary value of what he stole, but the breach of trust that makes communities question the safety of helping strangers – or accepting help from them, an opinion leader indicated.
He added: “Sometimes, the most devastating crimes are not committed with weapons or violence, but with a smile and an offer to help.”
From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi
Ghana Post on Tuesday launched the ‘Skool Box’ initiative, one aimed at supporting education and delivery services to students in Accra.
The initiative forms part of Ghana Post’s broader transformation agenda to diversify its services and provide innovative solutions to everyday challenges faced by Ghanaians.
Launching the initiative, the Managing Director of the company, Mrs Rita Sraha, said the idea was inspired by the practical difficulties students and parents often faced in transporting school items, particularly at the beginning of the academic term.
According to her, the increasing space constraints in schools also makes it difficult for students to carry large quantities of belongings with them, creating the need for parents to find alternative ways of sending additional items to their children.
Mrs Sraha said the initiative aligns with the broader national agenda of using digital technology and innovation to expand opportunities, improve public services and strengthen Ghana’s economic capabilities.
The Managing Director however, stressed that the success of the initiative would depend on Ghana Post’s willingness to listen to users, learn from experience and continuously improve the service.
Mrs Sraha explained that Ghana Post was gradually expanding beyond its traditional postal operations through partnerships and services in areas including last-mile delivery, agency banking, logistics and insurance.
She said the School Box Service was another example of how the organisation was using its institutional capabilities to develop solutions to practical challenges within communities.
The Acting Chief Commercial Officer of Ghana Post, Mr Benard Yaw Atta-Sonno, said the service was designed to provide convenient and reliable delivery of school-related items while creating new business opportunities within the education sector.
According to him, the company was also strengthening its focus on digitalisation, customer experience, strategic partnerships and data-driven commercial decision-making.
“Our objective is clear: to build multiple sustainable revenue streams around the assets and capabilities that Ghana Post already possesses, while developing new capabilities for emerging markets,” he said.
He explained that, in the short term, the initiatives were expected to increase transaction volumes, improve the digitalisation of the company’s network, attract new customer segments and generate additional revenue from services that complemented its traditional postal operations.
He noted that the School Box, in particular, provided an opportunity for Ghana Post to develop recurring business around the annual school cycle, while creating opportunities to cross-sell other logistics and delivery services.
The launch forms part of Ghana Post’s wider efforts to modernise its operations and position the company as a diversified logistics and service provider beyond its traditional postal business.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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The Ghana Education Service (GES) has asked heads of schools not to turn away newly admitted students or refuse to accommodate them over metal trunks or wooden chop boxes.
“These practices may impose unnecessary financial burdens on parents and guardians who may be unable to afford alternative storage containers prescribed by individual schools,” the GES said in a statement.
“All students admitted to boarding accommodation should be treated fairly and accommodated without discrimination based on their economic circumstances or ability of their parents or guardians to purchase a particular brand or type of personal effects.”
The statement, signed by Professor Mrs Smile Dzisi, the Deputy GES Director-General, comes after Management of the Service received reports that some senior high schools and senior high technical schools (SHS/SHTS) were turning newly admitted students or refusing to accommodate them because they brought metal trunks, wooden chop boxes or other personal storage containers to school.
Consequently, the GES has asked regional directors to inform all heads to desist from turning away or refusing admissions to duly admitted students solely on the basis of the type of trunk, chop box, or personal storage container they bought to school.
Provided the item was reasonably sized, safe and did not pose risk to the health, safety or welfare of other students, those students must not be refused accommodation, it added.
The statement said: “Any reported case of a duly admitted student being denied accommodation or turned away solely because of the type of trunk, chop box or personal storage container brought to school should be investigated and same reported to management.”
“Any head of SHS/SHSTS who flouts this directive shall be dealt with in accordance with the applicable standards, regulation and laws of the service.” –GNA
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