Oct 09, 2013 at 1:59pm
Confining Taxi Drivers To Registered Stations
COMMENTARY ON THE POLICY TO CONFINE ALL TAXI DRIVERS TO REGISTERED STATIONS BY THE AMA
In his book entitled, “Understanding Public Policy”, Thomas Dye, Jewish Scholar in 1991, defined Public Policy as what governments do, why they do it, and what difference it makes. In situating the policy of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, AMA, to ensure that floating drivers are registered and confined to identifiable locations and unions, it is only wise to ask why this and what difference it will make for the drivers and the travelling public. It is true that such a policy if fully implemented will ensure the security of travellers as lost items of passengers could easily be traced to the stations. Again, the practice where taxi drivers defy all odds and amidst all risks stop at any place on the road at any time to pick passengers or bargain for what has become known as 'chatter’ provided police personnel are not around will also be halted. On the other hand such a policy may affect some drivers due to what they claim is the unavailability of stations in the national capital and fear of not making enough revenue for sales. In short, the policy will certainly come with advantages and disadvantages to both policy makers and the general public including the drivers. Over the years, the AMA has successfully failed to implement laudable policies such as decongestion, demolition of unauthorised structures in the city and elimination of hawkers who at the peril of their lives will still criss-cross the roads to sell. These policies are in no doubt technically good because in the end, they will benefit everybody and help avoid needless waste of money in the provision of relief items in times of floods, fire out breaks and many other disasters. On the other hand, they are politically wrong due to votes that may be lost in times of elections thus making the policy cycle ridiculous.
Policy makers in Ghana are fully aware of the numerous advantages that will accrue from the implementation of the Rapid Bus Transit, RBT, system which was originally scheduled to take place three years ago using one side of the Kasoa-Kaneshie-Accra main road for the pilot phase yet, government lacked the political will to go ahead when private transport operators started backing and threatened to vote against the Mills led NDC government. The fear of losing votes by politicians has proved over the years to be factually incorrect at least in Accra thus making the argument by Shakespeare to the effect that there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so, very relevant. For instance, the demolition of poor structures near the 37 Military Hospital by the AMA during the reign of former President, J.J. Rawlings did not change the party’s fortunes in the election of 1996. Similarly the demolition of wooden structures leading to the construction of the Odaw market at the Kwame Nkrumah Cycle under the J.A. Kufuor regime did not affect the NPP’s fortunes in the 2004 elections. The list is endless. This simply means people who are for good policies outnumber those who for their parochial reasons do not support. In his reaction to activities of white minority farmers, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is quoted to have said ‘this is my country and these are my rules, if you cannot obey them, get out. Authoritative as these words may sound, human beings need tougher rules to do the right things despite talks of democracy. Prof. Gyimah-Boadi of CDD Ghana and lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana has argued that no country in the world developed under democratic rule in the true sense of democracy.
Thomas Hobbes hit the nail right on the head when he remarked decades ago that life will be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, if laws do not exist. Hobbes argued that it is not even enough for two friendly people to live without laws since one cannot predict the wickedness hidden in the minds of the other. Drivers in the city must therefore obey the AMA’s rules for the sake of sanity and security of passengers. For instance, do we all not advise our sisters and younger brothers not to chatter taxis in the night or refuse to join a taxi with at least two guys already seated during night times? This means all is not well. The AMA is not demanding that drivers forcefully join any transport union. The Assembly has openly said the floating drivers can come together and form a union on their own and operate independently and yet still these drivers are crying foul. Drivers must be told in plain language that in every society rules are not meant to please everybody but the majority which in itself does not pass the test of fairness and equity. In short, limitations on rationality are situational. Already the national capital has been inundated with a lot of people who do what they want as if they were living in a jungle and this cannot be allowed to continue. The AMA must bear in mind that it has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring sanity in the city and should therefore do exactly that regardless of the noise. The Accra Mayor, Alfred Vanderpuye, should not be discouraged by the fact that his name is being mentioned everywhere afterwards no great achiever succeeded without scores of insults, lies and propaganda by opponents. Let us all seriously reflect on the reasons for the AMA’s action on floating drivers, the difference it will make and support the assembly to enforce its policies. Long live AMA, long live Accra.
BY: GEORGE ASEKERE, A JOURNALIST.
In his book entitled, “Understanding Public Policy”, Thomas Dye, Jewish Scholar in 1991, defined Public Policy as what governments do, why they do it, and what difference it makes. In situating the policy of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, AMA, to ensure that floating drivers are registered and confined to identifiable locations and unions, it is only wise to ask why this and what difference it will make for the drivers and the travelling public. It is true that such a policy if fully implemented will ensure the security of travellers as lost items of passengers could easily be traced to the stations. Again, the practice where taxi drivers defy all odds and amidst all risks stop at any place on the road at any time to pick passengers or bargain for what has become known as 'chatter’ provided police personnel are not around will also be halted. On the other hand such a policy may affect some drivers due to what they claim is the unavailability of stations in the national capital and fear of not making enough revenue for sales. In short, the policy will certainly come with advantages and disadvantages to both policy makers and the general public including the drivers. Over the years, the AMA has successfully failed to implement laudable policies such as decongestion, demolition of unauthorised structures in the city and elimination of hawkers who at the peril of their lives will still criss-cross the roads to sell. These policies are in no doubt technically good because in the end, they will benefit everybody and help avoid needless waste of money in the provision of relief items in times of floods, fire out breaks and many other disasters. On the other hand, they are politically wrong due to votes that may be lost in times of elections thus making the policy cycle ridiculous.
Policy makers in Ghana are fully aware of the numerous advantages that will accrue from the implementation of the Rapid Bus Transit, RBT, system which was originally scheduled to take place three years ago using one side of the Kasoa-Kaneshie-Accra main road for the pilot phase yet, government lacked the political will to go ahead when private transport operators started backing and threatened to vote against the Mills led NDC government. The fear of losing votes by politicians has proved over the years to be factually incorrect at least in Accra thus making the argument by Shakespeare to the effect that there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so, very relevant. For instance, the demolition of poor structures near the 37 Military Hospital by the AMA during the reign of former President, J.J. Rawlings did not change the party’s fortunes in the election of 1996. Similarly the demolition of wooden structures leading to the construction of the Odaw market at the Kwame Nkrumah Cycle under the J.A. Kufuor regime did not affect the NPP’s fortunes in the 2004 elections. The list is endless. This simply means people who are for good policies outnumber those who for their parochial reasons do not support. In his reaction to activities of white minority farmers, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is quoted to have said ‘this is my country and these are my rules, if you cannot obey them, get out. Authoritative as these words may sound, human beings need tougher rules to do the right things despite talks of democracy. Prof. Gyimah-Boadi of CDD Ghana and lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana has argued that no country in the world developed under democratic rule in the true sense of democracy.
Thomas Hobbes hit the nail right on the head when he remarked decades ago that life will be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, if laws do not exist. Hobbes argued that it is not even enough for two friendly people to live without laws since one cannot predict the wickedness hidden in the minds of the other. Drivers in the city must therefore obey the AMA’s rules for the sake of sanity and security of passengers. For instance, do we all not advise our sisters and younger brothers not to chatter taxis in the night or refuse to join a taxi with at least two guys already seated during night times? This means all is not well. The AMA is not demanding that drivers forcefully join any transport union. The Assembly has openly said the floating drivers can come together and form a union on their own and operate independently and yet still these drivers are crying foul. Drivers must be told in plain language that in every society rules are not meant to please everybody but the majority which in itself does not pass the test of fairness and equity. In short, limitations on rationality are situational. Already the national capital has been inundated with a lot of people who do what they want as if they were living in a jungle and this cannot be allowed to continue. The AMA must bear in mind that it has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring sanity in the city and should therefore do exactly that regardless of the noise. The Accra Mayor, Alfred Vanderpuye, should not be discouraged by the fact that his name is being mentioned everywhere afterwards no great achiever succeeded without scores of insults, lies and propaganda by opponents. Let us all seriously reflect on the reasons for the AMA’s action on floating drivers, the difference it will make and support the assembly to enforce its policies. Long live AMA, long live Accra.
BY: GEORGE ASEKERE, A JOURNALIST.
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