We all have a part to play in curbing indiscipline

It has almost become a mantra for many people that ‘in Ghana the law does not work’.

This is as a result of the grave indiscipline that has plagued us as a country — Indiscipline on our roads, in our offices, our homes and schools and even in our institutions.

We have been surrounded by indiscipline to such an extent that it has become part of us. So when one person decides to make a difference by showing discipline in what he or she does, he or she is rather seen as the odd person.

This is how far indiscipline has brought us — people who do not want to be given names or tagged as the odd ones often end up joining the indiscipline bandwagon.

On the roads, especially during rush hours, some drivers decide to drive on the shoulders of the roads, thereby keeping dutiful drivers stuck in traffic like ‘fools’ who do not have anywhere to go or do not work with time.

Many a time other drivers who feel infuriated by the action of the few (they are sometimes in the majority) also follow on the shoulders of the road, when they realise that traffic wardens or policemen stationed there look on unconcerned.

Other culprits, when it comes to indiscipline and lawlessness on the roads, are motor riders. Apart from mostly riding carelessly and weaving through vehicular traffic at top speed as if they own the roads, they also act as if the traffic lights at major intersections are not meant for them but for only vehicles plying the roads.

They jump red lights with glee and no one, including personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, confronts or apprehends them.

While we believe that hawkers on our streets accentuate the indiscipline that has so enveloped us as a nation, they and pedestrians are always exposed to great danger from the advancing motor riders because the riders do not pay heed to traffic regulations.

Although we are in the 21st Century, Ghana is still grappling with diseases such as cholera due to our poor attitude towards the environment. People of all social classes throw wrappers of food items on the streets, in the gutters and at all conceivable public places with careless abandon.

Ghanaians love to travel and been-tos always recount with fondness the beauty of ‘abrokyire’ or other lands, yet when the same people are in the country they do not see the need to properly dispose of food wrappers and other waste generated.

Elsewhere, laws on sanitation are very effective and anyone who is caught littering is made to pay dearly for his or her action. However, in Ghana, people go scot-free when they litter and some even have the effrontery to question anyone who confronts them.

Ghana is a beautiful country and it is all we have got. We, therefore, have to conduct ourselves in such a manner as to make the country a safe and enjoyable place to live in. 

Everything that is abroad can also be found in Ghana. The only difference is our nonchalant and undisciplined attitude.

We need to enforce laws on the roads to save lives. We have to exhibit utmost responsibility towards the environment to keep diseases and sicknesses at bay. We have to sanitise our communities and the country at large to make it a better place to stay. 

We all have a stake in making Ghana a country of disciplined people and so let us respect our laws.