Mechanic Menace

So, a mechanic, or a group of mechanics, with impunity, converted a state-owned ambulance into a private cargo truck for use as such. That has been the news, lately. The ambulance, entrusted to them for repair was commandeered as personally owned and used to carry bags of cement.

Test, or trial run after repair, sometimes or with a degree of regularity, turns into 'twiing' (as in 'twi' or joy ride).

In many senses, it is an apparent apprentice perk. It's just like a policeman would take 'water' or the politician and public officer would extract ten per cent from a contract awardee. Blaa Kutu staged a coup d'etat because Busia had withdrawn 'small amenities,' legal though, that the military were enjoying.

Taking a client's vehicle for a ride is an apprentice 'accepted' behaviour. We all seem to condone it unless, and until, one is personally affected. It was like that for me when a tyre repair man went driving my car around until he killed the engine of my Chevrolet Prizm. That was instead of repairing a tyre, for which reason I had left the car with him. One mechanic took a different car away over a weekend, driving as far away as to his hometown somewhere in the Volta Region.

The last time my Nissan Sentra brakes were to be fixed, the left tyre area was not properly assembled. This was in spite of the fact that they kept it for three days. For the one day I was at the workshop and for all the time I was there, the Master was chatting with colleagues and customers. He didn't spend even one minute to check on what his apprentices were doing with my car. When I complained, he brushed it aside.

The fuel was all gone, and I kept hearing a strange noise driving, after the car had been returned. I got it back ostensibly fixed. I was lucky to find another mechanic to diagnose and fix the noise at extra charge.

Last week, I read about an aircraft that had parts fixed in reverse during routine maintenance. It crashed during take-off and killed the pilot. I'm sure if the mechanics who reverse assembled my brakes knew that, they excuse themselves with that as reference. They would tell me that even aircraft get wrongly fixed, as an excuse for their life-threatening brake fixing mistake.

A Kumasi mechanic had done a good job fixing most of the noises under my Tata Safari. Before then, in Accra, I felt like throwing the whole vehicle away. Back in Accra, I felt some mild noise which was not there before the Kumasi fixing. Maybe I should have been content with that. Because after detaining the car for four days, claiming to have fixed a shock absorber and drained all the fuel, I still felt the noise the Accra mechanics claimed to have fixed. That has been my miserable plight at the hands of mechanics.

I have had close associates and friends recounting their bitter experiences with mechanics as well. In a 'yɛ nkɔ twi' (let's take it for a joy ride) mentality, a friend's fairly new VW was crashed by a mechanic beyond salvaging repair. Another friend had his car burnt, again beyond repair, by an auto welder. I'm sure many such stories are not infrequently told. So, mechanic misbehaviour which costs vehicle owners dearly, needs to be tackled and solutions found. For a society which depends so heavily on used vehicles, I find it extremely important that we pay attention to the behaviour of the hands that are the keepers of that device.

I have been curious as to whether law enforcement has statistics on any role mechanics may have in the extremely high incidence of vehicular accidents in our motherland. It's information that could help analyse to draw attention to any potential role the mechanic's hand could be in causing the mishaps.

It would be worth worrying about how much driver and passenger lives are endangered or at risk at the hands of the mechanic. I am yet to read that information as part of results of interviewing of drivers involved in accidents. Finding out about the mechanic who last attended to a part that must have had something to do with an accident should be useful in preventing future accidents.

In fact, I also don't see structure. I am referring to the creation and existence of an artisans association backed by legislation that would mandate membership for all who seek to practise. Members who abuse and fail their customers by misusing their vehicles, could then be reported to the association for disciplinary action.

Generally, it seems like all artisans would want to take advantage of their clients. Can we really continue like this and build a nation? There's a mechanic menace out there. I don't know, and I don't even think there is anyone out there with the capacity to fix it.

By Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh