Why Fix the Problem when we can Go on Strike?

By Evans Mawunyo Tsikata Ghana has finally found a formula to solve all problems: When something offends you, go on strike. Commercial drivers have announced a nationwide strike today, November 4, because of TRAFFITECH-GH. Their argument is simple and touching. Traders have occupied the bus stops and pedestrian walkways, so they cannot park properly.

And since they cannot park properly, they should not be fined by cameras for speeding, running red lights, not wearing seatbelts, or driving with expired licences, insurance and roadworthiness. Let us applaud the logic. Your wife says you did not wash the plates, so you refuse to go to work. Your landlord says rent is due, so you stop bathing. That is exactly what we are doing.

Let us be clear on what TRAFFITECH-GH actually does, because propaganda is flying faster than the speeding cars it wants to catch. According to the Ghana Police Service, TRAFFITECH-GH covers eight offences: over-speeding, running red lights, wrongful overtaking, failure to wear seatbelts, driving with expired licence, expired roadworthiness, driving without insurance, and misuse of sirens.

The MTTD itself has clarified that the initial rollout focuses on speeding. The rest will follow. What TRAFFITECH-GH does NOT do: it does not chase traders from bus stops. It does not build parking lots. It does not fix potholes. It does not beg the District Assembly to enforce Regulation 142 of L.I. 2180 which bans trading at bus stops. Those are separate jobs.

But in Ghana, we love to mix koko and gari. The drivers say: “We cannot operate in bus stops occupied by traders and still be fined by cameras.” True, the bus stops are occupied. Anyone who has used Lapaz, Madina, Kaneshie or Kejetia knows it is a war zone of tables, umbrellas and shouting. The Assemblies have failed. The Police have looked away. That failure must be condemned.

But does that mean speed must not be regulated? My position is simple. Do we have to go on strike for everything? TRAFFITECH-GH will regulate EVERY vehicle. Private cars are even more than commercial vehicles in Ghana. The Toyota Camry doing 180km/h on the Tema Motorway is not a trotro. The V8 abusing sirens is not a Sprinter. So why do commercial drivers think they can hold TRAFFITECH hostage?

Because traders are selling at the bus stop, you will not work? Since when did you realise traders are at the bus stop? Have they not been there for 20 years? Why is your enlightenment coinciding with the arrival of a camera that can catch you over-speeding? Very funny. Change is always resisted. The Western world they all want to travel to has been regulated with cameras for ages.

You cannot do 35 in a 30 zone in London without a letter arriving in your house. That is why their roads do not kill like ours. That is why they keep developing while we keep debating whether law enforcement is fair. TRAFFITECH-GH is here to stay. The question is not whether we should have it, but whether it is fair and transparent. Who owns the system?

Who is making the money from the fines? What percentage goes to government, what goes to the private partner? Where is the video evidence they promised? Is there an independent appeal process if a driver is wrongly fined? Those are the questions we must scrutinise, not whether traders are at the bus stop. Yes, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies must enforce the law against traders, pedestrians and illegal parking with the same energy it enforces against drivers.

Accountability must be mutual, not selective. Clear the bus stops. Provide loading bays. That is legitimate. But you cannot say because one law is not enforced, no law should be enforced. That is anarchy dressed as advocacy. If today we suspend TRAFFITECH because traders occupy bus stops, tomorrow Okada riders will strike because roads are bad. Next, private car owners will strike because police take bribes.

And soon, nobody obeys anything until everything is perfect, which is never. So park your cars today. But remember, after November 4 comes November 5, and the camera will still be there, watching, with no trader in its lens, only your speed.