Mandatory tow levy must be implemented but…Inusah Fuseini

Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini wants the contentious policy on mandatory tow levy to be implemented but not in its current form.

The former Roads and Highways Minister in the erstwhile John Mahama administration considers the policy “a good law”.

The policy continues to face an unbending public disapproval leading to the Transport Ministry suspending its implementation in July.

Mr. Fuseini who was the sector Minister at the time the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) entered into a contract with key implementer of the policy, Road Safety Management Services Limited (RSML) in 2013, however, said: “the implementation is totally wrong”.

The controversial contract is being executed mainly by RSML which sub-contracts the project to six other companies – Day & Night, Sarkozy, Abu & Serwaa, Umarib, Global Haulage and TMS & S -which are expected to also engage several sub-contractors.

But according to Mr. Fuseini, as head of the Ministry at the time “we never got to the point where we agreed that we should give it to one person”.

He was speaking on weekly news analysis programme, Newsfile on Joy FM Saturday, August 5, 2017.

“Competition is always good, [it] inures to the benefit of the consumer,” he stated while suggesting, a better approach would be for the Commission to push for an adjustment of “the insurance policy by probably 1% and then consign it to the National Insurance Commission”.

Dean of Graduate Studies at the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae believes Members of Parliament could have stepped in to save the situation once the policy generated a public uproar.

“If an LI [Legislative Instrument] comes and you see that people are making noise about it, what is wrong with asking them to go back and take another look at it?”

The Governance Expert supported the view that the apparent creation of a monopoly by the implanting agency, gives cause for the whole deal to be reconsidered.

“Whatever way you look at it, you defeat the purpose of opening up the system,” D. Oduro Osae declared.

Meanwhile, Dr. Gideon Brako, Technical, Economic Advisor at the Office of the Vice President, is surprised at the pressure mounted on President Nana Akufo-Addo by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the cancellation of the policy while its passage into law took place in the era of their administration.

“Something that happened under the watch of the NDC…and all of sudden people want to push it down the [Nana Akufo-Addo] government.”

He is certain that “the government of Nana Akufo-Addo…will come out with a decision that will inure to the benefit of the people of this country.”

“No one needs to tell you that Ghanaians are not happy with this policy,” he stated.

Law lecturer, Yaw Oppong, however, wants the Road Safety Commission to take responsibility for the confusion that the policy has generated because of low public education.

“What is wrong must be put at the door step of the Road Safety Commission…they have failed to educate the public on the law,” he said.

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com