Following public protests, the executive arm of government
has decided not to implement the above LI, passed in 2012-5 years ago.
As part of the now hibernated law, vehicle owners and
motorcyclists were supposed to pay compulsory annual fees, tied to the
acquisition of road worthy certificate, to cater for towing services. Fees per
year for both commercial and non-commercial vehicles, depending on tonnage,
range from GHȻ20 to GHȻ 200.
The abandoned mandatory towing levy is one that shouldn’t
have been a subject of discussion in the first place, just like many other
“petty” issues we have come to spent countless amount of time and energy on.
The
subject is petty, not because there is no value in preventing road accidents by
hauling off disabled vehicles from our roads, but it is petty because it was
brought about due to lazy thinking.
If a vehicle breaks down, shouldn’t the owner be responsible
for any financial inputs needed to take it off the street? So we can’t we resource
the police (or any other competent institution) to receive the applicable charges
from the owners of these broken down vehicles, and tow them off our roads.
Proprietors
who default would have their vehicles impounded, and pay extra fines when they need
their properties back.
Governments in Ghana need to get serious, and fix
straightforward problems without unnecessary public circus.
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