7 News Belize

Ghanian Cabbie Was Well Liked Cabbie
posted (July 17, 2019)

And a correction to what police said: he is from Ghana, not Nigeria.  One of his most faithful customers, Channel 5's Isani Cayetano knew that very well.  Ampomah ran his taxi service just outside the KHMH, but he only provided service at night  - exposing him to certain risks - but also endearing him to his regular fares - who knew he could be depended on.  

That hard working night shift was a part of his migrant's story - and Cayetano told us more about it today:

Isani Cayetano - Friend and Client of Ampomah
"From Ghana to seek a better life in Belize and he was not only a cab driver but he was also a mechanic but he was nocturnal, he only came out after 6 in the evening and he worked the late shift until 2 or so in the morning. Yesterday something strange happened, I was leaving work and I was walking to catch Emmanuel when a colleague of mine offered me a drop home instead and so I got a ride with my co-worker bypassing Emmanuel. This was after 7:30 and I understand that this killing happened around 8 o'clock. So chances are, had I caught him, he would have been with me as opposed to taking another fare elsewhere. The thing about it is that with all the occurrences that happened yesterday, I am almost 100% certain, that the first thing Emmanuel Apombah would have asked me when I got into his vehicle, what's happening in Belize with all those murders because he knows me as a news man, that would have been his first question and that would have started off a conversation until I got home."

Jules Vasquez
"He became the 3rd murder is 3 hours. Wow that has to give you a chill."

Isani Cayetano
"Most unfortunate."

Jules Vasquez
"Speak about the struggle that he epitomizes in terms of somebody who come here and he will make it."

Isani Cayetano
"First of all Jules, bar-none, he was the cheapest taxi in Belize at 5 dollars a drop anywhere in Belize City, 5 dollars in a 4 runner at that. Secondly Jules, I ran a joke with him over the past couple weeks, a consistent joke, every time I met him, I said Emmanuel, how are you taking care of yourself working the night shift and he pulled out a piece of metal pipe and he said this is what I protect myself with and I said you sure that is enough because the way how things are going, a metal pipe can't stop anybody from doing what they want to do. What I know of Emmanuel is, as you rightfully said, he is what you would call a success story in Belize, not only is he personable but you can owe him and once he knows you, he will collect it on the backend without harassing you and so because of that, he built a strong client base. To where I said you don't have to worry about people flagging you down anymore, every time I catch your cab, is because somebody else is calling you to go and pick them up. So it was a situation where he had a clientele that he serviced those who work at KHMH, and those who work at Princess on the late shift. Those were his people that he service and perhaps that's the reason why he chose the late hours because he had a dedicated group of people who caught his taxi every day."

Jules Vasquez
"So finally, what's your thinking about who jumped in his cab last night and why would someone would want to cause him such grave harm?"

Isani Cayetano
"That's the question I would want to know. I mean, this is a man who for all intent and purposes is not a troubled person. This is one of the friendliest guys you would find. He was not standoffish; it's nothing like what you would think of anybody else who runs a cab in Belize. You get in there, he doesn't ask you your name, he will probably ask you how you are doing first of and if he senses a certain positive vibe from you, then you go from there and that's how he ends up befriending majority of his clients. I don't know why anyone would attack him in this manner, not a person with a million dollars, its only 5 dollars a drop; I don't know what they were thinking."

We spoke to a number of his clients who told us that Ampomah did operate only at night, but was generally very careful about who he picked up.

Those living in the area, told us that they saw two young men - apparently teenagers - quickly walking from the scene after the murder.

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