Former Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short, has disclosed that a major part of the country’s problems stem from the failure of relevant stakeholders to enforce laws and regulations in the country.
Speaking in reference to the theft of ten newly installed crash barriers and destruction of some streetlights on the newly constructed Pokuase interchange, Justice Short revealed that there’s too much “disorder, lawlessness and indiscipline in our society”.
Justice Short explained that such indiscipline in the society has been simmering in the country for a long while because no action is taken against it.
“The impunity with which some people commit crimes is also on the increase. With regards to the stealing of these important safety equipment, people have been stealing electric cables from lights on the motorway for quite some time now [and] these activities go unpunished”.
Justice Emile Short
The former CHRAJ boss stressed on the fact that “dishonesty is pervasive in our society”. This, he alluded to improper nurturing of the youth in the society.
“Recently, I [heard about several employers] complaining about their Ghanaian workers conspiring to steal from them. Some of them have been compelled to dismiss the workers and to replace them with foreigners, thereby, worsening the unemployment situation in the country.
“So, when criminals can get away with committing these activities, they will continue doing so. Failure to enforce our laws and regulations and bye laws is a major part of the problems in our nation. I think that the majority of people who engage in these activities have had a poor upbringing”.
Justice Emile Short
Organized theft on Pokuase interchange
On his part, the former Chief Executive of Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr Charles Wireko Brobbey, described the acts perpetrated by persons on the interchange as “organized theft” and not “vandalization”.
He recounted that a similar incident occurred with the ‘Ghana @ 50’ celebrations where some unscrupulous persons went on a thieving spree to put part of the country in darkness.
“The audacity is that people have been stealing state properties for many years and nothing has been done about it. I recall that when I did ‘Ghana @ 50’ we lit up the whole of Accra and within a month of the event, every streetlight that had been rehabilitated including the Independence floodlighting was gone. This is not something people [are] vandalizing, they are actually stealing”.
Dr Charles Wireko Brobbey
Dr Brobbey explained that the same problem happened with “the N1 when it was first opened”. Being privy with the trend of events, the former VRA boss revealed that it is “not a new problem”. This is so because, he has witnessed it at least for the “last twenty years” and wonders why nobody is “taking time to investigate” the problem.
“So, this is not something that is vandalism, it’s clearly organized theft. Because we have an iron industry when we don’t mine iron ore and we pretend that we’re feeding all these factories with scraps. What is actually happening is that [the] infrastructure that are put [up] to try and brighten [and] light up our streets… are immediately turned into scrap”.
Dr Charles Wireko Brobbey
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