This is how two ‘friends’ connived and ripped me off
Update Jan, 5 2016: I have been advised by trusted friends, people who are experienced than me. People I have much respect for. They have brought to my attention that I can still educate the public with my experience without being defamatory. In view of that, I’ve updated the article to remove references to the ‘friends’ and the business entity.
Thanks to all the people who have helped spread the lessons shared in this article. I’ve learned a lot just by writing it.
Be better. Make a difference in your world!
I am sitting here reflecting on some of the things that happened in 2015. A lot happened. I had the opportunity to learn a lot. There are so many people and things I am grateful for.
A lot has also happened in Ghana, corruption cases, shady deals, cases of inflated budgets, etc. What was constant was, blame the Government for some time and forget that it even happened. Individually, we cheat, steal and do many despicable things in our corners and hoot at those who does exactly the same but gets exposed somehow.
Today, I write about a personal experience similar to the ones that have made Newspaper headlines in Ghana. This article is about two people I considered friends. Friends I was glad to help in their entrepreneurial journey.
These so-called friends connived and ripped me of an amount of GHS 5000. They requested for the said amount to help them furnish the computer lab of their IT training academy under the pretext of a loan with interest.
I gave them the money and they did whatever they wanted with it. Fast forward, 6 months later, I ask for my money to be paid back and I get a whole array of excuses. Long and short, they didn’t pay back the money they borrowed.
I could write on and on about my experience with them, instead, I will document the lessons I’ve learned.
Lesson #1: Do due Diligence
Don’t trust blindly. Do your background checks on people you intend to go into an agreement with. You can find out more information about the other party during your encounters (interview, phone and email conversations). Follow up on any references given, to ascertain the person’s expertise, competence and integrity.
Lesson #2: Avoid signing legal or quasi legal documents prepared by non-lawyers
Don’t sign any agreement or contract unless you have had a lawyer go over it. Ask a lawyer to go over legal documents to uncover caveats and breakdown legal jargons for you.
Lesson #3: Insist a lawyer prepares the document otherwise it won’t pass as a legal muster
This one is related to lesson #2. Make sure the agreement/contract is prepared by a qualified lawyer. Otherwise, you are only wasting your time with the contract. It probably won’t be legally binding and there won’t be any law protecting you.
According to my lawyer friend, the agreement I consented to was contextually ambiguous. In one breadth, I was an investor and in another, I was a money lender.
Well, based on the fact that my money hasn’t been paid and not having heard a word from them in the past 5 months, I would think, that was the intended purpose. They connived to rip me off right from the start.
Conclusion
In my defence, I went ahead to sign the agreement because I knew one of the ‘friends’ from way back at the University. Later, he did help me with accommodation problems during the time I was traveling between Kumasi and Accra. Turns out, that wasn’t a good enough reason.
I have other friends who also borrowed money from me and I didn’t like the way things panned out during payback time. I guess I should stop lending money to friends before I end up loosing them all.
These two ‘friends’ are just not honest and have little or no integrity. In my opinion, they are not cut out to run a successful training academy targeting the corporate world.
An advise to other entrepreneurs, keep your word because a man’s honour is his word.
The next time you want to open your mouth to criticise a despicable act, ask yourself whether you’re doing the act yourself and then change. That is far better, we would be making progress as a nation in that regard.
