In the past 15 years, several lives have been lost, and serious injuries sustained – presidential escort riders, executives in the entourage, innocent bystanders, other drivers and passengers have suffered.
His Jerryship’s convoys endured it several times; lives were lost on the Tema motorway when a hapless trotro from nowhere crossed the convoy. Vice Pee, Zongo Boy Aliu, has suffered it. Uncle Nkensen, the stubborn cat, had a mysterious accident during the days he was ‘misbehaving.’
Ministers and MPs with or without convoys, have been through it, leading to by-elections. As for Hilla Lee, he did not endure it while he lived, but suffered it on his demise. As his body was driven through the Northern Region towards Gwollu, his home town in Upper West, the convoy crashed, and injuries were sustained by relatives.
For JAK the Taller, this is not the first time in the past seven years. But to date, he is the only one to have been directly hit as President.
Consequently, vehicles have been smashed, scratched, dented, written off. New orphans and widows have been spawned; presidents have quickly altered their itineraries to attend funerals, and visit the bereaved.
The lives of our leaders are precious to us, and every effort must be made to ensure their safety. But drivers of presidential convoys, ministers, MPs and big men need refresher courses in safety, sobriety and humility. A course in the sociology of power should be fine, for power within our context is an intoxicant, and could promote lawlessness on roads and highways.
On highways, lawlessness may return in the name of presidential safety. Motor Escort Number One moves in the wrong lane, and with a hand waves commands to oncoming vehicles to halt. “The entire road is ours,” they imply.
It zooms past with lightening speed, and waves vehicles off to the shoulder lane, ensuring free passage to the speeding convoy. When one car accidentally brakes to avoid a pregnant goat, the rest screech and swerve, and dive. Many a time they crash, and somersault. In Ghanaian parlance, it somersaulted three times!
This way, one need not become an assassin, in order to endanger the life of a president; you need not get drunk, before slamming into a presidential convoy.
The President’s convoy in itself becomes an ambulance, automatically carrying the President to an emergency ward. Presidential convoys may simply display fondness for traveling ‘accidentally’.
By Kwesi Yankah