LI on MPs siren withdrawn
The Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations, 2024, Legislative Instrument (L.I.), which seeks to allow specific officials of the state to use sirens or bells as warning appliances on specific classes of vehicles, has been withdrawn.
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The withdrawal came after the Minority Caucus in Parliament declared to oppose it, while the Majority Caucus accused the Minority of being behind the proponents of the abortive bill.
The Minister of Local and Rural Development, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, withdrew the instrument on the floor of Parliament yesterday on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah.
Withdrawing the instrument, Mr Korsah said: “Mr Speaker, I rise to move that the Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations, 2024, which was laid on Friday, June 14, 2024, be withdrawn.
“This has become necessary based on extensive engagements with leadership; it is so withdrawn,” he said.
The instrument, meant to amend portions of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, would have allowed vehicles owned by Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers of State to use sirens on official duties.
Why L.I.?
The LI made provisions to allow specific officials of the state to use sirens or bells as warning appliances on specific classes of motor vehicles in the performance of official functions. It was also to remove speed limits on motor vehicles being used by these state officials.
They include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and Ministers of state. Others are the Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of Parliament, Ghana National Fire Service, National Ambulance Service, Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Prisons Service and other recognised government security agencies.
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In December 2020, Parliament passed into law the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2020, which introduced stiffer punishment for road traffic offenders whose actions lead to the death of an unborn child.
Opposition
Prior to yesterday’s withdrawal, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority Caucus had stated that it would not support the proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI 2180), in its current state.
It consequently urged the Minister of Transport “to immediately withdraw the said Legislative Instrument before it matures into law after 21 sitting days”. If not withdrawn, the NDC Caucus said, it would vote against the proposed amendments should it make its way to the plenary of Parliament in the current form.
A statement issued earlier yesterday by the Leader of the Minority Caucus in Parliament, Dr Casiel Ato Forson, said: “The report of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee (of Parliament) is yet to be brought to the floor for debate and discussion”.
Public uproar
The public uproar had been expressed over the discriminatory proposal that put the interests of the politician over the public’s convenience. The Minority Caucus stressed that: “We understand that the broader purpose of the regulations was to bring the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI 2180) up to speed on many matters relating to the registration and licensing of motor vehicles”.
“However, given the sentiments expressed so far, Members of the NDC Minority Caucus wish to make it abundantly clear that we stand with the Ghanaian public on this issue, and wish to signal our opposition to the amendment without any reservations,” the statement said.
Justification
The Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, had earlier justified why MPs should be exempted from being in traffic.
Defending the proposed amendment to the Road Traffic Regulations that would allow MPs to use sirens and exempt them from speed limits while carrying out official duties, Mr Appiah-Kubi said the public debate specifically against MPs being added to other individuals to be exempted was "unfair".
Speaking to journalists in Parliament, Mr Appiah-Kubi cited examples of MPs, state ministers and judges being arrested for trying to meet their schedules, emphasising the need for a legal solution.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP stressed that the exemption would only be necessary during congested periods, and clarified that it was not necessarily a privilege, but about enabling MPs to efficiently execute their constitutional duties.
NPP accuses NDC
The Majority Chief Whip and MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annor Dompreh, later accused the Minority Leader of “cowardice and hypocrisy” by not owning up to a proposal the NDC MPs had input into the Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations for consideration and approval by Parliament.
In an interview yesterday, the Majority Chief Whip expressed shock that the Minority through its Leader, Dr Ato Forson, was not owning up to the proposal they made in the LI at the Committee level.
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“I was rudely shocked when I saw that statement, even though from my sources, it appears to be a personal statement he had issued. Members of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee were engaged extensively by the Minister of Transport because he wanted to pick their views on the Amended Legislative Instrument,” he said.
Mr Annor Dompreh added that “in the 2012 L.I., the Vice-President doesn’t have a provision, the Chief Justice and the Speaker of Parliament were all not included in those privileges.
And for that matter, the intention of the Transport Minister was to include the Vice-President, Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice. Then there was a strong suggestion led by the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Dominic Ayine, who insisted that the Members of Parliament should be captured in the L.I. But the Transport Minister resisted it.
However, the Minority NDC MPs made it a condition else they won’t participate”. He said it was after the proposal to include MPs that were captured in the amended L.I. that the Minority gave the green light for it to be laid.
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