Exploitation Of Passengers By Metro Mass Officials

Let me commence this article with this powerful proverb, "a man must not swallow his couth because he fears to disturb other people sleep".

Metro mass transit is a very plausible, prolific and brilliant brain child of former president Kuffour. It was a well thought out project that aimed at alleviating poverty in Ghana.

The project was indeed worth commending and I will not hesitate to say kudos to His Excellency former president Kuffour for initiating such an intelligent project to improve upon the standard of living of the average Ghanaian.

The invaluable positive results that yielded from this project, have left no alternatives for the NDC government than to continue and even expand it after assuming power in 2009. In fact, the purpose of the project was being realized monumentally as authorities closely monitored and supervised the usage of these buses.

This is actually a praise-worthy project executed by the governments and I will be insincere to be mute on that more especially when I happen to be one of the highly patronizers of Metro bus. It is a well known fact that passengers don't only patronize metro buss because of it economical nature but also because of it safety and convenient nature; the core mandate for its establishment.

Evidently speaking, however, the hallmark for the execution of this project has of late been defeated absolutely. The then brilliant and well thought out poverty alleviating project implemented, has now turned into a golden-pot for the Kumasi branch metro mass station to draw from at the expense of the passengers. A weird, wicked and incongruous passengers exploitation strategy has been launched by the current Metro Mass officials who sell tickets at the Kumasi Metro Mass station. What is this dastardly unhealthy mess am I revealing? It is what you already know as a Ghanaian. That cancerous mess that is eating up this country deeply. I actually don't know how to christine it but I speculate you know what I'm referring to?

In all sincerity, our mother land, Ghana, will never see the light of growth if everybody is parochially interested in their personal aggrandizement. Now the problem is that the tickets' issuers at the Kumasi branch metro mass station are characteristically characterized by the undying perchant to dubiously exploit passengers to enriching themselves. In fact, this is never a hear-say but an undiluted fact of which I was an eyewitness and doubled as a victim. What happened was that passengers as usual, woke up as early as 3:00am; some even slept at the station so that they don't miss the bus. As they were in long queues to get their tickets from Kumasi to Wa, Kumasi to Tamale, Kumasi to Bolga inter alia, only fifteen passengers were issued the tickets. The rest of the passengers were told that the tickets were exhausted meanwhile that was a naked lie. But since the passengers have no sufficient evidence to challenge the officials, the only option they had was to go to a different station and board the means since it was necessary for them to travel.

True to the suspicion that the tickets were not finished but just that the officials wanted to charge the rest of the passengers more than the normal car fare. After a few minutes, some of the officials secretly told the passengers that they (officials) have some tickets that were sold to some peoplewho lately rescinded their decisions to travel. So anyone who was interested added GHC5 to the normal car fare they charged.

In fact, this is the strategy they use there to exploit passengers. I noticed this last year but didn't get time to lace my words together to save the poor passengers and help the vision of former president Kuffour to materialize.

So in this new year, which is a year of hope, I was thinking the year has positive impact in the lives of those officials but my encounter with metro mass passengers from Kumasi to Wa have revealed that those officials have resolved not to turn new leaves though we are in new year. Of course I know this is a shocking and excruciating revelation to some of you but that is the reality on the ground.

In deed, I am dumpfounded why at this stage of a highly populated men and women of God, crimes and social vices keep accentuating. This is even the era when the word of God is so prevalent and accessible to every tom-dick and harry yet some of these acts are at their ascendency. What an irony! How can such be happening at the time when the word of God is preached 24/7?

Unlike those days when the word of God was preached only either in the church or radio stations which were so uncommon and difficult to tune in, these days we have internet, radio stations, men and women of God at every corner on the street where these acts are being perpetuated without any remorse and regret. Does that mean we sit on our ears when the word of God is being propagated or they preached on only materials acquisition?

Anyway, it is not surprising that these things are happening now when it's suppose to be the other way round. It is understandable because we are now living in a society that is entrapped in a restless consumerism where materialism becomes the new religion and money the new God. So everybody wants to have money at all cost. That is bad! It is indeed lugubrious my fellow Ghanaians. We have a sacrosanct responsibility to fight and undo these uncharitable and unpalatable attitudes that are deeply ingrained in minds.

The unending growing appetite of thievery that characterizes these metro mass officials and other Ghanaian officers leaves no doubt, that approximate what I essentially view as a classic symptomatology of a dilapidated country that has been raped by its citizenry. This is a serious issue that we must vigorously wage war against. We must also spare no effort of ours to exposing and dealing with these self-centered beings who prioritized their personal interests over any other person.

To conclude, I want to use this opportunity to passionately call on the metro mass authorities to as a matter of necessity and urgency arrest this cancerous canker that has gained notoriety in the Kumasi metro mass station so that the purpose for it establishment could be realized.

I also want to throw the challenge to government and all stakeholders to rise against the progress of this barbaric act being executed by these unscrupulous officials. Government should set up an investigation committee to look into this matter swiftly and met out the commensurate punishment that they deserve. Let me quickly make this clarion call on the metro mass officials who sell tickets at the Kumasi metro mass station to stop exploiting passengers.

In similar vain, I want to hastily use this opportunity to Godly call on all public officers to desist from collecting what they largely referred to as "lubricants that keep the engine of the office running". Remember that you are starving others to death day in day out. Let us together save Ghana from corrupt personalities.