I believe the only thing I did wrong in this story was to try and help a guy who was struggling with his life. No, he is not someone I had a romantic relationship with. He is also not an old friend or someone I had known for long. I met him at my place of work. He came to the shop to buy some stuff and asked to be my friend. I didn’t tell him no outrightly, but I also did not encourage his attention. This did not deter him though. 

He came to the shop regularly. Sometimes he would buy one item, initiate a conversation, and stick around long enough to keep me company. I didn’t notice what was going on at first until it became a thing. It got to a time when he would stop by the shop, not under the guise of buying anything. He would just sit with me and talk. It dawned on me then that I had unwittingly become his friend. He seemed cool so I allowed the friendship to continue.

One time when he came to the shop I asked him, “How come you seem to be at my shop during working hours for most people? What work do you do?” He explained that he was a mechanic who had undergone surgery for hernia. “Since that time, life has been hard for me. I am not able to do any heavy lifting so it has affected my livelihood.” I was touched by his story. I wanted to find a way to help him get back on his feet. 

First, I asked him if he could drive and he said yes. I then told him that Yango had a partnership with Starlite. They give cars out to drivers to rent and use for work. I felt it was an opportunity he could explore. No heavy lifting. He agreed with me and started looking into the deal. 

After his research, he came to tell me he was required to pay a deposit of GHC4,000 to get the car. “I don’t have that amount lying down. Can you loan it to me?” Like I said, I wanted to help him. So I agreed to give it to him, no questions asked. His driver’s license had expired. That one too I gave him a loan to renew it. 

When he finally got the car, he didn’t have money to buy fuel for his first day. I loaned him the money to fuel it. The next thing was his phone. It was broken. He couldn’t use it to work. When he talked about it, I said; “Don’t worry, I have a phone I don’t use. You can use it for work until you repair your phone.” I did everything with the agreement that he would repay me money when he starts working. 

The payment plan for the GHC4,000 loan was GHC100 a day until payment was over. The first week was rough so I allowed him to have it. I expected to start receiving money in week 2. As for the phone, he should have fixed his own by then and returned mine. 

He paid the daily money twice and stopped. So right now he owes me GHC3,800. When I asked him to return my phone too, it became an issue. Today he would tell me tomorrow. Tomorrow would arrive and he would tell me next week. Soon enough, he stopped coming to our area. 

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I don’t know where he lives but I know his church so I went there to look for him. When this guy saw me he got angry. I asked him to give me my phone and he also asked me, “Madam, are you a witch? Did they send you to come and frustrate my life? Go and tell them you didn’t see me.” This made me very angry. 

I held him by his trousers and started yelling at him to give me my phone. Needless to say, we caused a scene at the church. This guy broke my phone’s screen just to spite me and then went to report to the police that I tore his trousers. I explained to the police that all of that happened because he refused to give me back my own phone, and the money I lent him. After hearing my side of the story, they asked him to fix my phone for me. 

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Now, I have my phone back but he is refusing to pay the money. I reported this to the police and they told me, “We don’t have any business with your money. Go and collect it yourself.” I don’t understand why they would tell me this. What did I even do to be treated badly by this guy? Was it a bad thing I did by deciding to help someone in need? Anyway, I have learned my lessons. My problem now is how to get my money back. 

Seeing as the police say it’s not their problem, I need help from wherever I can get to retrieve what is mine. If not I might do something crazy. I am filled with so much rage that anytime I see the guy I want to harm him. I don’t want it to get there so how do I handle it? 

I should add that after I helped him get the car, he asked me to be his girlfriend but I said no. I don’t know if that is why he is behaving like this or if it was his plan all along to tell me a sad story to gain my sympathy just so he would dupe me.

— Efa

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