Kudos to Roads Minister but...

Indiscipline in the country has become a major canker that is fast eating away the moral fibre of society. In all facets of life, acts of indiscipline have reared their ugly heads, leaving the authorities with very little to do to bring the situation under control.

From the breaking of road traffic regulations, the menace of land guards, to issues of drug abuse and corruption within the public and private sectors of the economy, acts of indiscipline continue to impact negatively on the economy.

Not long ago, a Member of Parliament was seen breaking traffic regulations because he had national work to attend to.

The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that many foreigners have also taken full advantage of the worrying trend to also do as they please. It is sad to see foreigners, for instance, break road traffic regulations and build at unauthorised places.

Last Wednesday, the Minister of Roads, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, in a show of public display, personally led a team of security men to stop a foreign contractor from destroying a portion of a road in Accra and also ordered the immediate arrest of those engaged in the construction at the site.

According to reports, a foreign contractor who was putting up a building had extended the work onto the road, causing complete nuisance not only to residents of that area but also motorists using that road.

Some have described the Road Minister’s action as simply despicable. They argue that he could not simply order the arrest of any person without following due process and that he was an apology of anyone in a so-called 'high office'.

In contrast, all over the social media, Mr Amoako-Attah is trending with positive comments in praise of his action.

Coming on the heels of public agitation over poor and deteriorating road networks in the country, it is understandable why the sector minister would move in forcibly to call a recalcitrant contractor destroying a portion of a road to order.

This is because the road network in a country is one of the key infrastructure projects that ensure the success of many sectors of the economy. It is a force behind every economic activity because it serves as a primary means of transportation.

While we all know the benefits of roads, they are one of the most expensive capital projects undertaken by any government. It is for this reason that Ghana is not able to accelerate the provision of road networks to keep pace with demand all over.

For us at the Daily Graphic, we find the action taken by the Roads Minister as the demonstration of his love for the country and see him as one who wants to see to it that the right thing is done in the country.

But we are at the same time worried. The questions we would like to ask are: was the basement of the building put up only some few days ago or it had been ongoing for some time? What was the involvement of the local assembly in the whole construction exercise? Did the property owners had the requisite permit to do what they did?

The Roads Minister flexing his muscles and ordering the arrest of some people at the work site, without following due process, may also be problematic, since what was done could have been done better. 

But, clearly, as a nation, we can no longer look on unconcerned while impunity takes the centre stage in our everyday activities, with people destroying private and state properties, only to turn around to blame the government for inaction.

This is the reason our duty bearers must be more proactive than reactive to inculcate discipline in the citizenry and foreigners who live in the country.

 We would like to prevail on all heads of state institutions to live up to expectation by ensuring that they do not sit aloof while people become indisciplined and destroy public property at will. They must be up and doing and insist on the right thing being done.