Beware, taxi drivers and conductors circulate fake currency notes!
Jan 24, 2009
A lot has been said about ‘improved’ fake sh50,000 notes on the market and I did not take it seriously. On Wednesday, on my way from Rubaga in a taxi, I was asked by a conductor to help him with change of sh50,000. The note he had had all the feature
A lot has been said about ‘improved’ fake sh50,000 notes on the market and I did not take it seriously. On Wednesday, on my way from Rubaga in a taxi, I was asked by a conductor to help him with change of sh50,000. The note he had had all the features of a sh50,000 note and the quality of the paper was fine! But my conscience told me it was a fake one. I consulted my neighbour who also said it was okay.
As I was about to give the fellow change, one man asked me to give it to him. He just told me it is fake. When all this was going on, the conductor and the driver did not say a word and pretended as if nothing was going on.
There was a man who was seated next to the driver who insisted the note was genuine. I suspect he was well known to both the driver and the conductor. After it had been proved that the note was fake, I returned it to the conductor who, to my shock, was not surprised! He just gave it to the driver and told him to keep it so that “they do not give it to another personâ€!
The driver simply pocketed and behaved as if they had made a loss. As if that was not enough, the conductor told me not to pay since I had ‘helped’ him discover a ‘kicupuli’ (fake money)! A simple calculation will show that if indeed these fellows had been given this fake money, they would have worked for nothing the whole day!
I would have expected them to at least show concern.
Police recently said that conductors and drivers are the ones who circulating fake currencies and from what I saw that day, something has to be done!
I call upon everyone who travels by taxi to be on the lookout for such people.
When a conductor asks for change and the money turns out to be fake, he should be arrested there and then. It is unfortunate in my case, because I thought about this after I had already left the taxi!
I also appeal to the Police ito be more vigilant.
Godfrey Kayitarama
Kampala
As I was about to give the fellow change, one man asked me to give it to him. He just told me it is fake. When all this was going on, the conductor and the driver did not say a word and pretended as if nothing was going on.
There was a man who was seated next to the driver who insisted the note was genuine. I suspect he was well known to both the driver and the conductor. After it had been proved that the note was fake, I returned it to the conductor who, to my shock, was not surprised! He just gave it to the driver and told him to keep it so that “they do not give it to another personâ€!
The driver simply pocketed and behaved as if they had made a loss. As if that was not enough, the conductor told me not to pay since I had ‘helped’ him discover a ‘kicupuli’ (fake money)! A simple calculation will show that if indeed these fellows had been given this fake money, they would have worked for nothing the whole day!
I would have expected them to at least show concern.
Police recently said that conductors and drivers are the ones who circulating fake currencies and from what I saw that day, something has to be done!
I call upon everyone who travels by taxi to be on the lookout for such people.
When a conductor asks for change and the money turns out to be fake, he should be arrested there and then. It is unfortunate in my case, because I thought about this after I had already left the taxi!
I also appeal to the Police ito be more vigilant.
Godfrey Kayitarama
Kampala