Good day Mr. President. I am writing to you on
behalf of Tiffany Justina Adoma who some day may have written to you
herself. Unfortunately, that will never happen because three-and half
years old Tiffany is dead.
She was killed by a vehicle in a convoy of metropolitan, municipal and
district coordinating directors from the Eastern and Ashanti regions who
were attending a colleague’s funeral.
It is possible that this was an accident, a very tragic accident. This
is how we normally regard such tragedies and wipe them off our minds
while giving it to God. On this occasion, Mr. President, I believe that
we ought to learn some lessons, if for no reason at all, so that little
Tiffany’s blood would not have been shed in vain.
Normally, I would address this communication to the Inspector General
of Police but, as I will demonstrate to you, I don’t think the police
are either interested or capable of stopping the kind of malaise that
could have contributed to the death of this beautiful little girl. Given
the kind of society that we are, only your personal leadership on this
issue will lead to change.
Mr. President, the news about young Tiffany’s death did not go into
much detail about how she died and I am not alleging any kind of
wrongdoing, but I think it would be very helpful to order an
investigation so that the full facts can be established.
Since the tragedy occurred, many commentators in the media, especially
on social media have chastised the parents or guardians of the child for
allowing her to go to school on her own, if that is what happened.
It is possible that as many of the commentators surmise, the parents
and guardians were negligent in their care of the little girl. If that
is the case the government has a role in reinforcing the message of
absolute concern that adults must have towards children in their care.
The way in which children are treated is not a private matter; the
conduct of care and responsibility towards children is regulated by law.
Unfortunately, Mr. President, in this country there is no active
communication on the laws of the land so while they remain in force, few
people actually know what these laws say.
For the sake of little Tiffany, we could start a public education
campaign on children’s rights and welfare. It is imperative that we do
this. We may call it the Tiffany Adoma Roadshow, dedicated to a child
whose right to life has been curtailed.
It is also possible that the fault lay with the convoy of vehicles that
went through Toamfom in the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region
where the child was killed. Mr. President, while I am being careful not
to blame THIS convoy because I do not have the facts, the behaviour of
other such convoys is simply unacceptable.
Let us remember that these convoys are usually made up huge 4 x 4
vehicles (mostly bought by public money), which are capable of reaching
frightening speeds. These convoys brush aside all other road users,
usually in their bid to flaunt their sense of importance and
omnipotence.
Mr. President, in Ghana, powerful people break the law with impunity
and nowhere is this truer than our conduct on the road. This is where
the police must come in but simply don’t do so. I believe that the
Spintex Road in Accra is the capital of road impunity in the world.
I have a friend who disputes this and argues that East Legon has a
better claim to the title, but Mr. President, to paraphrase the
Macedonia Call in the Bible at Acts 16: 6-10, please come over to the
Spintex Road and help us!
Mr. President, nearly 41 years ago, on August 4, 1974, this country
decided to drive on the right instead of the left as had been the case
for more than a century. It is obvious that some powerful people in this
country, including some diplomats who have sworn to respect the laws of
this country, are not aware that we drive on the right.
For them, where they drive is a matter of choice and discretion;
perhaps their moods dictate the side of the road on which they drive. If
the mood pushes them they decide to drive on the left!
The main perpetrators are unknown because they mostly drive vehicles
with ultra-darkened windows. This in itself is against the law, but who
cares? They have darkened the front, backseat and rear windows such that
even if they commit a crime and run away no-one can describe them. Mr.
President, is this the kind of country you wish to preside over?
These huge vehicles are driven in a way that intimidates all else out
of the road as they come with lights blazing, horns tooting at huge
speeds – the better to terrorise those of your citizens who lack the
resources to meet them headlong.
And, here is the catch, Mr. President; all along the route we have
police being highly visible. It is not that the police do not know their
work; they do. It is not that the police do not want to stop these
people; they do. But they know the limits of their power.
I have been told by more than one police officer that it is useless to
arrest any of these powerful perpetrators because simply they are above
the law. A police officer told me “if you try to deal with these people
you would rather put yourself in trouble. It takes only one phone call”.
Mr. President, the situation is getting out of hand. State officials,
private security firms, general purpose big men (and a few women),
politicians, business tycoons, indeed police vehicles that clearly are
not on emergency call are all in the act. It is mayhem out there.
Meanwhile, while these people are flashing their lights and frightening
the citizenry out of their wits you would find a police officer
spending long minutes with a trotro driver on the roadside.
Mr. President, in a democracy, or any type of half-decent society
powerful people cannot be allowed to flaunt their power in the faces of
the ordinary people of the land. What is worse, this is a double whammy
because the vehicles being used to intimidate us were mostly bought with
our money. Indeed, it is a triple whammy because we buy the fuel as
well.
Your Excellency, why couldn’t these people pool vehicles to save fuel?
The fact that they were in convoy means they gathered together at one
place, so they could have left some vehicles behind and travelled
comfortably in a smaller number.
Mr. President, even in the UK where the case can be made for elaborate
convoys, the royal motorcade with the Queen in it has about five or six
cars with two motorcycle riders.
But Mr. President, my concern is about powerful people’s sense of
entitlement and exhibition of impunity. Please come to the Macedonia of
road hell and help us. This is happening all over the country. You can
stop it if you want to do so. Yours is perhaps the only voice to which
they will listen.
Our police officers are a fine bunch but they do not enjoy eternal
security of tenure and theirs is not an independent force in the true
sense of the expression. So they err on the side of caution.
Little Tiffany’s death has told us something: there is a heavy price to
pay for indiscipline and impunity. There must be one rule for all of
us. Of course, the President and the Vice President as well as medical,
security and fire services are entitled to special treatment but the
rest of us are all equal on the roads.
Mr. President, this has been inspired by little Tiffany. Let her not die in vain.
