President Akufo-Addo Kill This ‘Man’!

Obviously, it is the responsibility of every government to solve societal problems. Thus, when the citizens have reason to believe that a government is doing the opposite, then there is disenchantment among the people and they will surely be voted out. Indeed, I have always believed in the political ideology of my party, NPP, because it is a party that has a DNA that seeks to make a difference in the lives of the people.

Tellingly, the NPP is in government at a time when the NDC have totally destroyed our wealth. So, Nana Addo and his team are going to struggle to fix a lot of things to make Ghana moving again. That single effort to significantly reduce the NDC’s mess has the potential to sidetrack the NPP government from equally addressing urgent national issues. Yes, the president has initiated bold policies to arrest the evil menace of ‘galamsey’ (illegal mining), and rightly some media stations have joined the ‘fight’.

However, there is one area that the president should urgently use his innovative skills to initiate pragmatic policies to solve an equally evil menace- road accidents. It was thus refreshing that on April 1, 2017, the Chairman of the PROTOA branch in Kumasi entreated president Akufo-Addo to appoint a Road Safety Minister. Indeed, the carnage and fatality on our roads should be the concern of every loving Ghanaian. Unfortunately, for decades, authorities have taken a blind eye on road safety. The sheer amount of innocent Ghanaians that have untimely lost their lives on our roads should give this country a moment to pause. Surely, this article is not meant to give readers various statistical data on the huge negative impact of road accident on the national economy; but rather a simple call to Act!

The issue about road safety demand an innovative approach. Of course, road fatality cannot be completely eradicated, but it can be dramatically reduced to a sensible manner. The effort demands all concerned parties playing their role. Understandably, some section of Ghanaians will blame some police officers of placing much premium on collecting ‘monies’ from drivers at the expense of enforcing road safety regulations. Correspondingly, when some police officers hold an inherent secret notion that politicians, school authorities (headmasters, bursars, and accountants), all take some form of ‘bribe’, then those police officers are going to subtly do the same.

One significant aspect of Ghanaians is that over the years we have been complacent about our so-called “hospitality culture”; but, when it comes to having empathy for each other, there is every reason to believe that we score extremely low. Clearly, when a driver have empathy for his passengers, he is likely to drive safely; when a car breaks down on the road and the owner has empathy for other road users, he/she will take safety precaution. Exactly eleven years ago, our beloved Ferdinand Ayim (then special assistant to the Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City) sadly perished on the road through this avoidable situation. When police officers have empathy for their fellow Ghanaian, they will not take ‘bribe’ but rather enforce road safety regulations. When a politician care and have empathy for other fellow Ghanaians, he/she won’t ‘steal’ the country’s ‘money’ that are meant for road safety. Truly, my heart is always torn apart when I observe Ghanaian drivers driving at a top speed even in school designated areas. Clearly, these drivers have no heart or empathy for our school children.

In fact, the huge cost that this ‘monster’-road accident- is heaping on Ghana, should be a frightening situation for all to act Now!

This is the time for our president to ‘kill’ this road monster –road accident. Of course, it does not necessarily mean appointing a new minister to be solely in-charge of road safety as the PROTOA Chairman in Kumasi has suggested, but rather one of the ministers of state can be given an additional duty to ‘kill’ road accident.

It is the hope of every individual that his or her beloved one will return home safely and government must not fail them. The youth of Ghana are crying for a solution to be found for the carnage on our roads and we must act decisively Now! Indeed, with innovation, creativity and a common-sense approach, Government can dramatically reduce the carnage on the roads.

Mr. President, I humbly urge you to do something about the ‘killings’ on our roads. It is fixable and doable and we must act Now! This ‘monster’ has continued to bring misery, crying, and yelling among many Ghanaians. Many Ghanaian talents have sadly and untimely been taken away by this ‘monster’.

Please, Mr. President ‘kill’ this thing call ‘road accident’

Martin Kwaning (Former TESCON President)
[email protected]
Texas, USA