My first wish list of tasks for our next “Leader”

I put Leader in ” ” because I do not sense from among the frontrunners of our politicians aiming to be elected President, a dogged determination, a commitment, a tenacity, to conscript Ghanaians together as a people towards achieving a single goal, much more a set of goals.

Thus far it has been a startling, unattainable catalogue of mere wishes and irritating promises of a brighter future.

It’s sad to be resigned to the spectre that the opportunity to unite and galvanize Ghana and Ghanaians together, determined to achieving any purpose, may have been, irretrievably, lost. Rwanda’s government and its people, to which we sadly look as a transformational miracle, having come out of a bloody chapter in their history, have a purpose! I charge our next President to LEAD us!

There are matters, separate from our tottering economy, which I will plead in this write-up and in subsequent ones, with our next President to give utmost priority. They include the following:

1. Bring sanity to our Roads: The spate of horrific deaths, crippling injuries, families shattered, property lost, prospects dashed etc., that result from stupid and quite avoidable road accidents in our country is numbing. More than 500 people died in road accidents in the first quarter of this year, 2023. A National Road Safety Authority director who was on Joy FM recently said quite contentedly that it was a reduction from the 900 deaths recorded in the first quarter of last year, but he couldn’t connect the reduction in fatalities to their work/effort. When 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 people die in an accident, it must lead to a serious investigation, trial and punishment for offenders and education to other drivers and the public about the cause of the accident, what could have been done to prevent it etc. Last year, a bus driver fell asleep while driving. 70 people died…. We left a probe into such a tragedy “to God’s hands/God’s will”.

Both the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Roads, who have a charge to ensure safety on our roads, don’t seem worried about this bloodbath. Road safety and education must be their mantra. The numbers are worrying. Also, guilty are the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Motor Traffic and Transport Division (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service. The efforts of these agencies towards ensuring sanity (there’s no other suitable word) on our roads appear seasonal. At Christmas, Easter and Ramadan they plead with motorists to be careful. After these celebrations, road safety programs and education are sparse, weak and sporadic. But these agencies, which usually cite a lack of funds, must be innovative and work in unison with other influential channels like the media and telecommunication companies in their road user education and road safety awareness drive if they really want to stem this bloodbath.

Most radio stations in Ghana run almost the same format on weekdays. 6:00 am to 10:00 am is usually a morning show almost always devoted to pointless political debate, 10:00 to 1:00 pm is a slot for lively social/musical programmes, followed generally by business news, health and sports discussions till about 3.00 pm and then another entertainment slot till 6.00 pm.

These agencies, acting in concert, should be able to use our radio and TV stations to propagate their education. Clearly, articulated messages of road traffic dos and don’ts/common infractions and punishment emanating from them can be sent to all 500 or so radio stations in Ghana to be read and explained at least twice on each of these radio programmes. One common message per week… They will reach every nook and cranny of this country. Short, crisp educative videos of common unlawful driving offences/practices, motorcyclist and pedestrian infractions should be produced and sent to our TV stations. I doubt that any well-run radio or TV station will refuse to help reverse this madness.

With the proliferation and variety of TV stations, an entertaining and educative TV series like Driver Banza of the 80s may not have the same reach, but thought should be given to making short videos of common driving infractions and illustrate the correct methods. These videos should be concise, educative and deterrent. Every radio station should appoint at least two of their most influential presenters/hosts/journalists as their Road Safety Ambassadors or whatever tag is agreed upon, tasked to ensure that these messages are properly disseminated and to ensure that road safety/education programmes reach their audience.

Relentless commitment from the very top of government will be crucial to the success of any road traffic safety/education program and/or reform and I humbly suggest that a small, well-run Desk be set up at the seat of government to oversee and co-ordinate this effort and that both the President and Vice-President make it a priority to include a road safety message in every speech they deliver in Ghana to a Ghanaian audience.

Our Telecommunication companies can also be used to propagate these messages. The reach of mobile phones is obvious. Everyone has a cell phone and crisp text messages and videos of common road infractions, driver and pedestrian do’s and don’ts, and the punishment consequent upon breach will reach everyone.

2. Bring our road traffic laws and drivers guide to our doorstep: Our road traffic laws are captured in the Road Traffic Act, 2004, Act 683 and the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2180. These two legislations encompass everything the driver, motorcyclist, passenger, pedestrian, and law enforcement needs to know about how and where to cross a road, road traffic offences and punishment, vehicle and driver licensing, road signs etc., everything. They are presented in simple, digestible language. Their major sections, which everyone; driver, pedestrian and the public need to know and comply with, can be simplified, with illustrations where necessary in a booklet which should be made widely available to the general public, sold to every driver/motorcyclist on renewal of their Driver’s License and made available in electronic format. Knowledge of our most common infractions encompassed in these laws should form part of the testing regime for new drivers. Can we stringently re-test our current crop of licensed drivers or at least thoroughly re-educate/re-orientate them?

Our current handbook for safe and acceptable driving practices is the Ghana Highway Code, a stale pamphlet commissioned in 1974 by the late Major Kwame Asante, then Commissioner of Transport and Communications of the NRC regime. It has not been revised to reflect the fact that driving on the shoulders, driving on the wrong side of the road/facing oncoming traffic, motorbike ‘towing’ etc., are illegal.

These and hundreds of other details, drivers, passengers and pedestrians must know are found in the two aforementioned legislations. The Highway Code was launched when most drivers in Ghana were or could be presumed, sensible. Today the terrain is full of impatient madcap drivers, bikers, mindless ‘V8s’ driving in the wrong direction towards oncoming traffic, faulty vehicles left in the middle of the road, running red lights, wrongful use of police escorts, blaring unauthorized sirens and flashing lights etc.

It must be thoroughly “refreshed” with a view to highlight the most important provisions of the two legislations. Thorough knowledge of a revised Highway Code and a good grasp of the above-mentioned laws must become part of a rigorous testing method conditional to the grant of a driver’s license. Drivers, passengers; especially our bullying political class, and pedestrians must be educated to realize that being on a public road is serious business that requires conforming to certain strict patterns of behaviour and observing rules.

3. Introduce a stringent vehicle purchase policy for the public sector: This is unrelated to the above but it’s a matter that has been gnawing at me and which requires much more attention than I can devote here.

It does not appear that we have clear guidelines for the purchase of vehicles for use by top government officials and other public officials. My humble submission, constrained by space is that the next President immediately outlaws the unbridled purchase, and use of full-size, luxury off-road vehicles like the Toyota Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol, by the State and its agencies, until a well-thought-out state vehicle acquisition, use and replacement policy is instituted and enforced.

Government plutocrats and institutional heads are currently tootling around in the new model, $130,000.00 Toyota Landcruiser L300s and lavishly equipped Lexus LX570s in spite of our economic constraints. Why? We are poor and broke! Do our public officials need luxury off-roaders to commute from say Madina or Sakumomo to the Ministries to work?

A leader bent on correcting this severe anomaly and drain on our resources does not require more than four months within coming into power to fashion a robust vehicle purchase and use policy for our poor country.

Our general behaviour on our roads as drivers, cyclists, pedestrians or passengers mirrors us as a people. It’s getting worse by the day.  We must hurriedly confront and correct this madness together as a people led by government acting decisively, persistently and strongly through its agencies.