Testing the patience of Ghanaians…

In a quest to beat the morning traffic and get to school early, it is has become common to find primary school pupils leaving home at dawn, way before sunrise, with their heavy school bags saddled on their young backs as they manoeuvre the morning dew on dark streets, sometimes alone with no adult guide. The goal is to beat the traffic and get to school early.

Yet in the same country called Ghana, some right-thinking adults who begged to be elected as Parliamentarians with an excuse that they want to serve the people are lacing boots to make a law which would permit them drive with no speed limits and also allow them use sirens on their vehicles as the only way they can dodge the same traffic to get to work early.

In summary, the country’s parliamentarians are saying they want a law that would give their vehicles privileges typically reserved for emergency and specialized vehicles and their excuse is that they are offering a service of priority to the country for which they must get to Parliament early.

The New Publisher is convinced the MPs are only testing the patience of Ghanaians to be sure whether or not the masses are angry enough or still have extra tolerance space to stomach some more provocation before they hit the streets as has been happening in other countries.

In the name of all that is true, the proposed Legislative Instrument (LI) seeking to amend portions of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 is vexatious; it is best compared to decree by the pigs in George Orwell’s political allegory, ‘Animal Farm’ that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” It is a subtle apartheid ideology.

It is laughable these lawmakers believe in the delusion that the services they offer this country called Ghana is more critical than the services from the Vice Chancellor of a university, a lecturer compelled to handle over 300 students in some over-packed lecture hall, a medical doctor sacrificing to attend to more patients than ought to be, a senior police officer perching with family in some tiny hencoop-like room, the legal practitioner in a hurry to get to court to defending the rights of wrongfully accused persons about to be thrown in jail, the nurse standing at the bus stop in wait of a commercial ‘tro-tro’ bus, the Fire Service Officer walking in the rain to work and the list is endless.

Instead of finding solutions to the causes of the avoidable road traffic and coming out with smart policies and laws to ensure the right things are done, the persons paid by the  taxpayer to serve these purposes say they should be exempted from experiencing the harsh realities of the type of leadership they have offered and continue to offer.

It beats the mind why a child in primary school, a young nurse without a car, a university lecturer who stays far away from campus would be responsible enough to plan their time and leave home early so as to beat the morning traffic but Parliamentarians would think they deserve a special law to place them high above the laws everyone else follows.

At least it is consoling that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority officially kicked against the proposed L.I. and eventually it got withdrawn by Government belatedly.

We can only hope and pray it is not smuggled in through the back door.