|
 Zacaria
Phiri Strikes Again!
It has been some time since I have had a brush with my brother,
Zacaria Phiri, and life was becoming quite boring – nothing to rant
and rave about. But, Zac came through last Saturday afternoon.
Leaving my office, over the bridge and into Cairo Road, I stopped at
the red traffic lights at the junction with Church Road. Whilst I
waited for the lights to change, my passenger and I had chatted with
the friendly street vendors and the street kids. Whilst chatting, I
noticed the filter light for traffic turning left turn to green and
waited until the lights for those driving straight to change. When
they changed, I pulled off at a leisurely pace (it was Saturday
afternoon, after all, and I was not in any rush). At the pedestrian
crossing immediately after the lights, I stopped as there was
somebody crossing and whilst I was stopped, I was approached by Zac
and one of his colleagues, who indicated that I should pull off.
Being a law abiding citizen and also very much aware of how annoying
it is to fellow drivers when someone obstructs the traffic, I turned
into the road leading to the Post Office. Zac and his colleague then
informed me that I had failed to observe the traffic lights and that
they would be charging me for this ‘offence’.
I
guess I should have been flabbergasted : this is the first time I
have had such a thing happen to me i.e. that I have been accused of
an offence I did not commit, but I have heard some horror stories in
all my years here, so I did not sit there in stunned silence. After
about half a minute of arguing, I knew I was wasting my time and
told them ‘You want to charge me, then let’s go to Lusaka Central
and you can charge me there. Room E17. I’ll see you there’, and
drove off.
A
short trip around the Post Office, back onto Cairo Road, round onto
the other side and stop at the traffic lights again. Only to be
approached by Zac, calling/begging to me ‘you can’t do that’. Like
hell I couldn’t do that. The lights changed and off we went, over
the bridge and into Lusaka Central, up the stairs to E17 to find
somebody in charge. (Or should I say ‘up the stairs after I had
negotiated the puddles in the car park’. What a disgraceful state
the car park is in, unlike those at the various Government
ministries)
Explanations were given (and accepted) and we were led downstairs
and into the car park. The Officer then went off to speak with
someone and we waited patiently for him to come back, assuming we
would then take him to the scene of the ‘crime’ where he would deal
with the matter. But no. After a few minutes we were told he would
take himself down there and deal with the issue. Well, we knew that
this would probably not happen and knowing that Zac had probably
left the scene by now, we left it at that and drove off. Down Church
Road, stop at the red traffic lights and turn left into Cairo Road.
And there was Zac, waiting for his next unsuspecting victim. But by
this time, I was tired of the story (I had more exciting things to
do on a Saturday afternoon) and had given up the fight : I knew that
I was wasting my time pursuing it further. But I did control the
urge to throw him a zap sign as I drove past : no point in stirring
the pot. I had also goofed : the first thing I should have done,
before I drove off to Central, is take my own advice, the advice I
give to everyone who tells me of their horror story, and ask him for
his name and number. Secondly, I should not have allowed Zac from
E17 to brush me off with the excuse that he would make his own way
down there and deal with it. I knew that nothing further was going
to happen. But I always have in the back of my mind the fact that I
do have a voice, in the form of The Lowdown, and if nothing else, I
can at least warn others to be on the lookout for this latest scam.
But it does not end there. On Monday morning a friend told me that
they had had the same experience on Sunday evening. The only
difference was that they had been told that the fine was K
1,200,000, an amount with which he did not part.
Readers be aware. Zacaria Phiri is on the prowl again, and this
time, blatantly, down Cairo Road. |
January
2006