Joseph Osei-Owusu
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has asked the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, to empower officers of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service to arrest Members of Parliament (MPs) and government officials who have installed and been using sirens in their official vehicles.
The First Deputy Speaker’s call caused an uproar in Parliament after the Minister of Transport had made an official statement in response to a summon to brief Parliament on what his ministry is doing to curb the increasing road accidents in the country.
He said there is a culture of impunity of installing sirens on official cars and misusing them by some MPs and government officials.
He pointed out that such actions go against the law and that the police must act to arrest such officials without fear or favour.
But the MPs were not happy with the directive and therefore made a lot of noise in the chamber.
He asserted that it is also an offence for parents and guardians to allow their children and wards under seven years to cross vehicular roads on their own, saying that if a child under seven years is found to have crossed a road without parental guidance, the parents ought to be arrested and prosecuted as spelt out under the road traffic laws.
The minister in a response to the Speaker’s call said that government officials who are not authorized to use sirens in the official vehicles had been asked to remove such sirens and therefore similar exercise would be conducted for MPs if the leadership of Parliament gives them the green light.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr