The contentious Legislative Instrument (LI) that sought to amend sections of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 to allow Members of Parliament (MPs) and others to use sirens and be exempted from speed limits has been withdrawn from Parliament.
The Road Traffic Regulation (Amendment) 2024, was laid on Friday, June 14, 2024 in Parliament, while Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin was in the chair.
The amendment to Regulation 74 of LI 2180 was to allow sirens to be installed as warning devices on certain cars, including those owned by Supreme Court Justices, MPs, and Ministers of State.
However, the proposed revision to the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI 2180) aroused strong public outrage and criticism from road safety stakeholders, who contended that the amendment was unnecessary.
Yesterday, the Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, withdrew the Regulation on behalf of the Transport Minister, citing public and stakeholder concerns.
He indicated that the withdrawal of the Legislative Instrument became necessary based on extensive engagement with leadership of Parliament.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to move that the Road Traffic Regulation (Amendment) 2024, which was laid on Friday, June 14, 2024, be withdrawn. Mr. Speaker, this has become necessary based on extensive engagement with leadership. Therefore, it is so withdrawn,” Mr. Adjei Mensah Korsah stated.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin, weighed in on the issue, denying knowledge of such a Legislative Instrument before the House.
He noted that Parliament lacks the constitutional authority to amend regulations, complicating an already controversial proposition.
“There is nothing like that before Parliament,” Speaker Bagbin asserted during a public lecture on private member bills at the University of Ghana. I thought something was being done behind my back, but all my directors confirmed they had not seen any such LI,” he intimated.
But it turned out that the subsidiary legislation was before Parliament and records of the House indicated Speaker Bagbin was in the chair when it was laid.
Before the Speaker’s outburst, the Minority in Parliament issued a press statement urging the Transport Minister to withdraw the LI. The statement, which was signed by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, directed his members to vote against it.
The statement emphasised the need for the government to prioritise more critical national issues, such as the high cost of living, food inflation, unemployment, high fuel prices, and cedi depreciation.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House