Two incidents in the past week have conspired to make me sad as a Ghanaian and almost succeeded in robbing me of my great optimism for a great future for this country. Truth is, no single country develops without the citizenry being law abiding and disciplined. One of my secondary school teachers used to say that; ‘even in the animal kingdom, where no written laws operate, some order sometimes prevails’.
We seem to be drifting as a nation towards lawlessness and social disorder. It’s seen all over the place. One of the days within last week, workers like me who had closed from the day’s chores and weary and heading home were compelled to be in traffic for close to 15 minutes to allow a herd of cattle numbering more than thirty(30) to cross the road near the Kanda traffic lights.
That incident coupled with another story earlier in the week that a motor bike rider, riding from the opposite direction on a dual carriage road where pedestrians never expect any mobile entrapment like a car or motor bike to come from had hit and killed a man on the spot made me very sad as a Ghanaian. Sad, because they are almost daily occurrences in some of our cities.
With 16 days to elect new leaders for this country, I have been nursing a rather sad fear about what society the politicians are fighting to come and lead. They want to become President or MPs for a country where laws are only on paper and where cattle can move about any time of day in the capital city?
The candidates for the presidential and parliamentary positions are crisscrossing the country to be given power to preside over a country where motor bike riders are above all laws and run through red traffic lights and move in any direction at will sometimes to the affront and bewilderment of the police who look on in frustration. Yes, this is where we are and that is what our politicians are tripping over each other to come and superintend over whilst enjoying the gargantuan pecks of office. Oh, I feel really sad about the goings-on and yearn for a quick action to deal with them.
One of my buddies, however thinks the problem is with the Metropolitan and Municipal Assembles and the local governance system than a central government failure. He questions why the AMA for instance cannot apply its by-laws on stray animals by capturing them and fining their owners as punitive measures or in default killing such animals and donating the meat to orphanages. Somehow, I agree because any visitor to Tamale will agree that motor bike and bicycle riders in that metropolis obey traffic rules.
Travelers to Rwanda lately return with amazing stories about how Kigali and other places in the country have been kept spick and span. This, we are told is because they have made littering an unattractive practice. Offenders are punished by paying spot fines and given custodial and community service as punishments. The deviants obviously accuse their leadership of high-handedness but majority of the citizens rather applaud their leaders for the massive positive turn around.
After several years of revolutionary rule in this country, we should have been people who respect our laws and are ready to abide by them. But here we are; breaking every rule available and insulting our leaders in the name of democracy in the media.
The late former Vice President, His Excellency Aliu Mahama led a crusade against indiscipline in the President Kufuor government. You remember the TV footage in which the ‘mad man’ whipped the man urinating against a wall? The Vice President was lauded for that crusade. But what came out of that? Why did it stop?
There must be a turn around. Who is going to lead us to bite the bullet for a national crusade for discipline?
The time for the rot to stop is now!
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