Indiscipline appears to have eaten very deep into the fabric of the Ghanaian society. Undoubtedly, the entire Ghanaian society is heavily diseased with the maggots of indiscipline. Everybody is behaving as if he or she couldn’t care less where Ghana ends up.
It is common knowledge that some of us behave like wheelbarrows – unless you push us, we will never act responsibly. For some people, unless they are lawfully compelled to do the right thing, they will do otherwise. Indiscipline is, therefore, the order of the day, hence the many problems hanging around our neck. Interestingly, everyone is pointing accusing fingers at the other and vice versa.
Indeed, one doesn’t need to look far to see traces of indiscipline everywhere. In the area of environment and sanitation, for instance, we see illegal mining activities causing environmental degradation, indiscriminate dumping of refuse resulting in choked gutters, floods, environmental and health hazards, as well as open defecation, which also poses health hazards.
Come to our road sector and the level of indiscipline is vexing, frustrating and shameful. Simple rules of driving are no longer being enforced. The traffic wardens, who are supposed to ensure the traffic regulations are obeyed, appear overwhelmed by the scope of events.
Regardless of the fact that indiscipline on our roads is resulting in unnecessary accidents and deaths, there appears to be no end in sight to the menace. It was, therefore, not surprising that the good people of the country wholeheartedly welcomed the ‘War Against Indiscipline’ launched by Citi FM and Citi TV, an Accra-based media organisation, with the view to naming and shaming people who violate basic laws in the country.
On Monday, the focus was on the Accra-Tema Motorway, the 19-kilometre flagship project under the erstwhile Kwame Nkrumah regime, which links the harbour city of Tema to Accra and was opened to traffic in 1965. However, years down the lane, the motorway appears to have outlived its usefulness and has now become a death trap, given the number of accidents that have occurred on the road.
Indeed, the Accra-Tema Motorway, which was was designed to prohibit pedestrian movement, parking areas or U-turns, now has about 45 unauthorised U-turns, posing grave danger to the lives of the hundreds of people who ply the road daily. And not surprisingly, at the end of Monday’s exercise, which was conducted in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies, over 40 drivers were caught pants down.
According to reports, eight of the drivers (which, sadly, included a pastor, a top musician, a lawyer and top public servants) were arraigned before court the same day and were made to pay fines ranging between GHC600 and GHC750 while many more were scheduled to be processed for court today and tomorrow. The question is: Why must it take media intervention for the law enforcement agencies to do the right thing? These infractions didn’t start just yesterday, so what stopped the police from arresting and prosecuting these traffic offenders all these years? When are we going to make laws work in our dear country?
Much as The Finder congratulates Citi FM and Citi TV for launching the ‘War Against Indiscipline’, we hope the law enforcement agencies will not forever need the presence of TV cameras before doing the right thing. Ghanaians are sick and tired of the greed and selfishness of some of our law enforcers, which, by and large, has contributed to high levels of indiscipline and lawlessness in our dear country.
The post #WAI: Kudos Citi, but police have no real excuse [Article] appeared first on Citi Newsroom.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS