Kudos to DCOPs Yohuno, Boakye
Two regional police commanders over the last week demonstrated that the laws of the land could be enforced.
They made bold moves to restore sanity and discipline into road use and the operation of any motorised machinery on the roads.
It began with a clampdown on motorbike riders,especially those used for commercial purposes known as “okada”, in Accra, during which more than 1,000 motorbikes were impounded by the Accra Regional Police Command, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno.
As was to be expected, human rights activists jumped into the fray, condemning the so-called high-handedness of the police.
Ironically, these same people also complain about the abuse of road traffic regulations by motor riders who ride their bikes facing oncoming traffic, jump traffic lights and do not have respect for other road users.
During the Easter holidays, the Ashanti Regional Police Command, under the direction of DCOP Mr Nathan Kofi Boakye, rounded up 200 drivers for allegedly abusing the use of special trade licence plates, popularly called DV plates.
Unlike the operation in Accra, which resulted in some of the culprits being made to face trial, in Kumasi the police cautioned the drivers and asked them to “go and sin no more”.
The Daily Graphic is encouraged that there are still “men” in the system who will stand up to anybody who flouts the law and make sure that that person pays the price for it, since the law is no respecter of persons.
It is an open secret that most of the robberies committed in the country are carried out by deviants using unlicensed motorbikes and vehicles and yet there are some people who will defend these wrongdoers.
Our efforts at building a law-abiding and disciplined society will not yield the desired results if we are not prepared to play by the rules.
The Daily Graphic reminds Ghanaians that the countries we admire for their advancement did not achieve prosperity by magic but through consistent respect for the rule of law, discipline and hard work.
In our part of the world, many of our people want shortcuts to success, for which reason they do not want to submit to the norms of society.
The Daily Graphic will stand by these two gentlemen and their teams in the fight to reduce the crime rate in our society.
They must be prepared for the interferences, some of them from very high places, in their efforts at ensuring compliance with the law. But they must remember that there are many law-abiding citizens who will give them the thumbs-up for their initiatives.
We know that these men and their teams have been fighting criminal gangs for many years now and are very conversant with the intrigues, influence peddling and power play, even from their colleagues.
The Daily Graphic urges Mr Yohuno and Mr Boakye not to make the exercise a nine-days’ wonder but sustain it until all the deviants decide to conform to societal norms, discipline and values.
