Drivers licensed to kill!

The act of driving is one which is difficult to master on Accra’s roads. The typical driver here has no regard for the road regulations that is if they know them at all. The worst culprits among these drivers are usually the commercial or “Trotro” drivers who drive with their set of customised regulations.

Certainly shouldn’t it arouse our curiosity that all of these commercial drivers act almost in a like manner? It has always been a source of worry to me because most of these drivers act in a way that put the lives of their passengers in danger as well as other road users.

The fundamental problem we all know is that most of these drivers were not properly trained hence they experiment with people lives to master their trade. This raises a lot of doubts about the professional competence of the licensing body, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA).

It is sad that almost everything here is Ghana can be bought. From passports, birth certificates, Voters-IDs, the list is just endless. Some of these issuing institutions have become gold mines where people rake a lot of monies for tilting the laws to their favour.

Even without any driving experience, one can literally walk into the offices of the DVLA, and buy a driving license. All you require is to know the people who matter and you will be sorted. It is really a huge problem.

The DVLA over the years has gone through reforms to ensure that only people who have the requisite training are licensed to drive. But in all of these reforms, many people trusted to implement the reforms have stabbed it in the back by navigating around them to suit their selfish needs.

The reason why many drivers’ mate continue to graduate to drivers without proper training is that they can still be assured of their license however through dubious means. What most of these corrupt officials at the DVLA don’t think about is the other road users.

By licensing an unqualified driver, these officials actually put the lives of other road users in danger. Reckless driving is the order of the day. During rush hours, most of these drivers throw caution to the wind and drive according to their own rules.

Some of these drivers don’t mind stopping in the middle of the road to pick passengers. It appears to them the road marks and signs are just decorations not to be observed. That’s not to say the private drivers are above reproach. Some of them also make the worst culprits.

When you live in a country when the amber traffic light means “time to accelerate”, then you should know all is not well. This is just one of the traffic regulations that we have corrupted. And here, all drivers, whether private or commercial are guilty at a point in time.

On daily basis, there are countless infractions on our road and traffic regulations. The people we expect to enforce these laws are rather benefiting from them to society’s detriment. I have always admired ACP Awuni Angwubutoge, Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police.

Sadly, I can’t say same for most of his boys. It’s an open secret that one can buy his/her freedom no matter the offence committed. All it requires is some “few” cedis if you’re lucky. What these law enforcers do not realise is that anytime an offender is left off the hook, it puts all of us in danger.

I was saddened when I heard that the Chief Justice of the Russian Federation, Vyachesla Mikhailovic Lebedev, was involved in a motor accident early this week. After listening to accounts of how the incident happened, I became more convinced that driver of the tipper truck that run into the Chief Justice’s convoy was certainly going bunkers or something.

This reminds me of a similar incident involving then President Kufuor whose convoy was hit by an unknown vehicle. Luckily the President escaped without any major injuries. The issue about road traffic crashes mostly has nothing to do with the roads rather the people behind the steering wheels.

Sometimes people who drive such heavy duty vehicles tend to use the sheer size of the vehicle to bully other road users. About four years ago, a vehicle I was aboard, wrongly overtook an articulated truck. As if that was not enough, the articulated truck driver openly stated, when he caught up with our driver, that but for the passengers, he would have crushed our driver to death. Such mentality!

There are countless of such drivers in town who don’t take it lightly when you infringe on their right of way. I am very sure that’s what happened last Monday. The DVLA must step up its game and ensure that all drivers who apply for drivers’ license pass through a strict training regimen. We shouldn’t compromise on quality lest we pay heavily.

About six years ago when Accra’s first specialised Motor Court was established to prosecute motor traffic offenders as well as enhance traffic discipline on the roads, a section of the public managed to gag it to death.

It was such a noble effort at sanitizing our roads but I guess its timing was wrong coinciding with an election year. As pressure mounted on the government that move didn’t materialize and the plan fizzled into thin air.

It’s never too late for us to have a rethink of the Motor Court; we need it running full capacity and not some half capacity!

I’m out!

Miracle for sale; Buy one, get one free!

Some 2000 or so years ago, Jesus accompanied his mother, Mary to a wedding in a village, Cana in Galilee. At the said wedding, there was a shortage of wine, and Jesus is recorded in the Bible to have performed his first miracle by turning six jars of water into fine wine.

Fast forward to 2013, quiet a sizeable number of pastors in this present age will definitely be smiling to the bank having performed such a miracle.  First of all, I am sure this wine would have the ability to solve marital problems, cure impotency, drive away evil spirits, grant visas, employment among others.

As a Christian, we are admonished to be Christ-like but you look at some pastors of today, you wonder whether that same admonition applies to them.  Anytime the actions of some of these pastors come under scrutiny, we are told to “touch not my anointed ones”. 

Yet, under the cloak of Christianity, many people have gone ahead to amass wealth at the expense of their congregation. Is it not surprising that some pastors now offer consultancy services for a fee? Meanwhile the same Bible teaches us that Jesus walked and offered advice to many without taking a dime, yet when people chastise the actions of these pastors, they are told “touch not my anointed”.

Sometimes you don’t need any magical eyes to read between the lines as to how cunning some of these pastors are.  They devise crude means to fleece their congregation, promising mouth-watery miracles to entice their congregants. Nowadays, there are pastors who now demand huge sums of monies just to prayers or even fast on behalf of their congregation.

I used to listen to sermons on radio usually at dawn, but I had to put a stop to it because I felt all what some of these pastors did was to advertise their churches and the so-called miracles they have done.

It’s a pity how some people are so gullible to fall for the wits of some of these masqueraders.  Many stories have been told of women who have been coerced into sleeping with pastors for the sake of having children.

Many are the stories which have equally gone unnoticed.  About seven months ago, there was a story told of a pastor who had an affair with a married woman for over six years. I can imagine throughout the six years, the pastor, supposed to be giving guidance to the flock, could go about his duties as if all was well.

That’s why sometimes I puke when some people are quick to say “touch not my anointed’.  There’s no denying the fact that there are genuine men of God around as well as those who hide under the pulpit to perpetuate all sorts of vices. No wonder the Bible cautions that in the end times, there will be false prophets who will even go to the extent of performing miracles just to deceive Christians.

The good old scripture also says that, “For lack of knowledge my people perish.” This goes a greater extent to explain that sometimes we need to probe further.  Our attitude of trying to blame every misfortune on that gray-haired old lady in the village has really been our undoing. Sometimes when there’s no old-lady, we still comb the village to find another old lady whose neck the blame would be hanged on. Goodness!

Even in the light of modernity, some people are quick to blame deaths resulting from diseases such as malaria and cholera as coming from evil spirits even when the environment of the deceased is completely engulfed in filth.

The crave for miracles is getting bigger by the day and as it grows, so does the bank accounts of these pastors who have offered the miracles for sale like they sell tomatoes in Makola. Some of the common items sold are (holy) water, honey, mustard seed, canes, salt and anything that these pastors can lay hands on.

There was a certain rich man in the Bible who went to Jesus and asked what he could do attain “eternal life”, Jesus told him to go sell his possessions and give it to the poor.  How I wish these pastors extremely rich pastors could follow this instruction.

Some of these churches are now being  run  like business entities and I think it’s about time we look at taxing them according. After all it wouldn’t a bad idea to have 10 percent of offerings or the income of the pastoral team.

I’m out!

The curse of poverty

In the abundance of water the fool is thirsty – Bob Marley

I don’t pride myself as an all-knowing person. Not at all.  However, one thing I know is that poverty is a disease. And in this part of our world, it is an endemic one for sure. It has been handed over from one generation to the other as if it were an ancestral heritage.

And just like any other disease, I have always advised that prevention is better than cure. However, about a fortnight ago, I saw poverty in the face. In fact, I caught poverty staring at me; there wasn’t much I could have done about it.

It happened when I visited a typical coastal town in the Western Region, whose name I will not readily mention because their problem is not exclusive to them. This town is a big fishing community in the region.

As I hail from a coastal town, I wasn’t particularly shocked about what I saw; rather, reality dawned on me that it may take the second coming of the Jesus for these folks to realise their present demeaning status. That coastal towns have always lived in poverty is now a cliché. The inhabitants have embraced it, rather sadly.

In other parts of the world, the rich and wealthy live along the coast, a stark contrast with what pertains here. Beaches have always been a great tourist attraction. Yeah, not in Ghana, I know. You see, the potential of our beaches has always been there; rather we choose to wallow in poverty.

Ghana is blessed with probably one of the finest coastlines in Africa. Most of our beaches are sandy and hold very immense potential, especially if their fronts are to be converted into real estate developments or other commercial purposes. I know one may be asking, “so what happens to the fisherfolk or indigenes?”

The thing about us as a people is that we are always conservative, not wanting to think outside the box. In my opinion, the notion that one becomes a fisherman because of one’s geographical location of birth is archaic and outmoded.

I don’t see how fishing can change the desperate situation which persists in our coastal communities. Most fishermen have not only handed down the trade from generation to generation but so did they do with poverty.

Like Bob Marley, it is only the fool who complains of thirst in the abundance of water. I have maintained that this country has always had the resources to develop itself without relying on any external assistance, yet our leaders as usual fail to see beyond their noses.

So what happens to the fishing profession? That’s exactly what I have also been thinking. You see, the number of people in fishing is outrageously high, because due to the outmoded technology and practices we employ, we always have to rely on a high number of fishermen to meet our fishing needs.

The first thing to do here is to modernise our methods of fishing. I know we do it to some extent, but it’s time to take it to a much bigger level. The level of education in such places is characteristically low. And having a second look at education there would mean that we create other opportunities for the indigenes.

With time, the number of people in fishing will dwindle, but due to our modern fishing technology, we will still maintain our regular fish supply. A rather win-win situation for us all.

Of course, some jobs will be lost if we are to undergo this transition. But remember, no pain, no gain. Simple as that. And in harnessing the potential of our beaches, whether by building multi-million dollar beach resorts or real estate apartments, more jobs, both for skilled and unskilled, will be created.

I have been to Kormantse, a coastal town in the Central Region. It has one of the finest beaches you can possibly find in the country. But characteristic of us, we prefer to sit on the pot of gold dust while we flip our hands in despair as our children die from hunger.

Elsewhere in Peru, the tourism industry has been growing at about 25% per year in the last five years with beach tourism playing a key factor. Indeed, the tourism industry there rakes in more revenue than mining and other industries.

For a country like that, such an achievement did come easy; it was a well-designed investment which bore fruits after years of tilling. The thing about tourism is that, you always get the tourists to spend their hard-cash in your economy—the money they spend is proportionally related to job creation.

In our case, we have resigned ourselves to fate. All our tourism master-plans remain on the drawing board, with no proper investment to develop the requisite infrastructure. We always think that drawing tourists to this country is about advertising on CNN and the like. Interesting.

We are not the only country seeking to be the preferred tourist destination in Africa. The competition is keen. But our lackadaisical attitude towards tourism will cost us. You just need to be at Butre, the neighbouring town of Busua in the Western Region, to experience what I am talking about. How many of us know that you can go whale watching there or even surfing?

So while our tourist sites should in fact be seen as goldmines, we have succeeded in reducing them to landmines through open defecation, for instance, on our beachfronts.  And of course, it all comes down to the education I spoke about, doesn’t it? I don’t think this country has problems; indeed, we are the problem.

I’m out.

An open letter to Kwame Nkrumah

Dear Osagyefo,

I hope this letter finds you well. I have been contemplating writing you this letter for a long time, but I think the time is now right to have this correspondence with you.

I know you don’t know me because our paths never crossed while you were alive. You can just address me as a concerned Ghanaian.

This year marked the 41st anniversary since you were taken from this world. You know, the country has never been the same since you left. In fact, not only has a lot of water passed under the bridge since you left but the bridge itself has collapsed. Sad, right?

I know you have your own troubles where you are but Osagyefo, sometimes I pray you keep an eye over some of the happenings in this country. If you have some spare time, you can just check on us to see how we are faring.

Some of the things are definitely going to keep you turning in your grave. Sometimes I wonder why you toiled so much for nothing. Come and see for yourself how all the industries you built have turned into churches and warehouses for storing imported goods.

Even jute bags for our cocoa, yes I mean our cocoa, are imported. And Osagyefo, the saddest part of the story is that after killing all the industries you laboured to build, they are still crying about joblessness.

I hope you remember the Tema Motorway, the one you fought fiercely to construct? It still remains the only of such infrastructure in the country,but due to a lack of maintenance,“manholes” are common scenes on it.

Sometimes I question why you had to fight tooth and nail to gain independence only for our own people to stab us in the back. I know you can’t answer this because you were violently overthrown, but anyway I needed to ask all the same.

Over the past two weeks or so, there have been several debates about who really founded Ghana. Some people are saying you were just an opportunist who took advantage of the situation to throw yourself at Ghanaians. Are you surprised?

For those of uswho did not get the chance to meet you in person, our only option was to read about you and your deeds. Some were that bad, I admit, but I believe you were a mere mortal so you couldn’t have been perfect. But recently, the sorts of things they are saying about you are that bad and I don’t want to be the bearer of such unprintable words. I feel sad for you.

As for your Convention People’s Party (CPP) they are just there. Sincerely, I don’t think they can come back to power unless you are to be reincarnated and made the flag bearer. The people themselves don’t know what the problem is.

Last time I overheard someone suggesting that they should grill the red cockerel,I mean the CPP emblem, since it has come of age. That’s how bad it is. People were even calling for the replacement of the cockerel with a lion. Now that was funny.

While we wait for the CPP to come to power you will be surprised at the sort of things the two main parties have been subjecting us to. I don’t want to bore you so I will limit myself to only what happened in the Fourth Republic, ie from 1992-2013.

Osagyefo, I know you have been reading the dailies. So tell me how you feel about all that is going on now. I am talking about the GYEEDA saga et al. Osagyefo, I know you had so many vices but definitely gargantuan corruption was not part of it.

Come and see people chopping our money “nyafu-nyafu” and we can’t say anything about it. Surprisingly, those who are supposed to fight for the masses are themselves busy fighting for the crumbs. Doc, we are really suffering oo.

You know as for the judgement debts saga, if I tell you about it you will be annoyed. A certain “something something”Woyome alone has been given gargantuan monies he didn’t even do any work for. Recently, a court ruled that he should vomit the money. But Osagyefo, as I write to you now, he’s not even made his mind that he will vomit a shilling.

There are many problems facing Ghana but you see, I feel corruption denies the masses the basic infrastructure and amenities that they need. I know it will hurt you to know that even in this modern age some citizens are still sharing their source of drinking water with livestock. That’s sad, I know.

We have had a leadership paralysis since you left. Nothing seems to be working. In fact, Ghana is more or less now on auto-pilot. We are just at the mercy of the wind. Everywhere will do.

Just last Thursday, the Supreme Court announced its verdict in a matter of an election petition brought by stalwarts of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)—a party that traces its roots from the UP tradition–against John DramaniMahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which came out of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

The petitioners argued that Mr. Mahama was not validly elected in the December 2012 election since a lot of irregularities benefit him, hence the Court should rectify the irregularities and subsequently declare him loser. But the Court would have none of that, dismissing the petition after eight grueling months of trial.

But I think you should commend us for not descending into the gutters to fight and kill each other when the Supreme Court gave its verdict. Everyone thought there would be a war but on the day of the verdict, Osagyefo, not even a single soul was found on the streets. Everybody just went into hiding.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, at this point I don’t want to sound boring with my long talk. It’s been a long while and, of course, I couldn’t have said all that has happened within the 41 years of your absence.

Anyway, I thought you should know that the African Union (AU), formerly Organisation of African Unity (OAU), has a new office in Addis Ababa, and you won’t believe who built it for them. Who else but the Chinese. I am not sure this is what you envisaged when you said the “black man is capable of managing his own affairs.”

Let me end here. I am sure you will be hearing from me often. Regards to the late Prof. Evans Attah Mills. Tell him we miss him badly.
Anyway happy birthday in advance!

Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).