GET FAMILIAR - Management At The Accra Mall To Ban Visitors From Taking Pictures.

The management of the Accra Shopping Mall is expected to announce a ban on the use of cameras at the the shopping centre. The directive, they said, has became necessary as shop owners at the mall continue to complain of low sales despite the
high number of visitors.
Results from a special survey conducted by the management group indicated that, although about 3 million people visited the mall during the Christmas and New Year weekends, the average consumer’s spending dropped about 12.9 percent.
The survey also revealed another shocking fact. It showed that about 70.8 percent of visitors to the mall visited with the sole aim of taking photos for their Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Speaking to journalists at a press conference, the Public Relations Officer of the management group said, “We see people coming here dressed up in leather jackets and woolly hats just to take pictures for the Instagram and Facebook accounts. And the most annoying bit is that they fail to hash tag us in these photos!”
Giving evidence for his claim, he revealed that the picture above, which he handed out to the reporters for publication, was retrieved from the internet by the mall’s management. It belongs to an individual with the Instagram account name, Borga Cooper Lee. Although it is clear that this photo was taken at the Accra Mall, Borga Cooper Lee has hash tagged it #Toronto #UpTownChilling #LifeIsGood and #StartedFromTheBottomNowWeHere.
He added that “the slump in sales has nothing to do with the extortionate prices of goods and services or poor customer service, its all to do with the fact that people come here just to take photos and not to shop. This is not the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum or the Boti Falls! This is a shopping centre. We will therefore put measures in place to stop this because it is affecting business.”
A member of the security staff at the car park also confirmed the results of the survey saying “Masa don’t be deceived by the full car park. Most of these people only come here to take pictures on their smartphones and tablets. It is true, they are really spoiling business. But now, we are glad we will have the power to seize camera phones and we will make sure we do it to the best of our abilities.” He also mentioned that “if your phone or tablet is China made then please be aware we will confiscate your equipment as well as give you a 5 months ban from the premises.”
‘No Photography’ signs will soon go up at the entrances and various vantage points within the mall to warn visitors of the impending policy change.