President must state his stance on controversial towing levy – Hassan Ayariga

The leader and founder of All People’s Congress (APC) Dr. Hassan Ayariga wants President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to make public his stance on the controversial towing levy that appears to have been put on ice

He appealed to him to reject the controversial mandatory tow levy which was approved by the roads and transport committee of parliament.

Although the APC leader supports the towing of broken-down vehicles from roads to minimize the alarming rate of accidents, he disagrees with the committee on the modalities under which the safety policy would be implemented.

He told the host of political show on Amenado Radio in Denver, Colorado, USA, last Sunday that he would personally send a text message to the president and advise him to disapprove the levy and follow up with a phone call.

Dr. Ayariga admonished all Ghanaians to resist the payment and instead, advised the government to find alternative means of making the towing work without placing financial burden on the already suffering Ghanaians.

“As Ghanaians, we should not sit aloof for the government to implement policies that will have serious financial impacts on us. NDC government initiated this mandatory towing policy but they decided not to implement it. If it was a laudable idea, why didn’t Ex-President Mahama approve it?” He quizzed.

He said, Ghanaians did not vote for negative change but they voted for a change that will have positive impacts in their daily lives. In his view, the parliamentarians can draft the policy but Nana Addo is the final decision maker because there is no way the policy can work without his approval. He advised the president to rather focus on job creation for the youth and strengthen the security of the nation. He pleaded to all Ghanaians in the diaspora to support the government with their exceptional knowledge and experience for the collective interest of Ghana. According to him, if any sitting government succeeds, the whole country succeeds. Likewise, if failure sets in, it will affect every citizen of the country.

Responding to the host about how he would handle road safety concerns, if Ghanaians had given him the opportunity to lead the country, he answered that he would equip the National Road Safety commission (NRSC) with towing cars in every district, and allow private companies to compete in the business. According to him, vehicle owners can negotiate and register with either the NRSC or any of the private towing companies at flexible fees in the form of optional towing insurance.

To make the plan effective and efficient, the APC founder said, his government would implement a policy that would mandate the police to coordinate with towing operators in ensuring that broken-down vehicles are quickly towed from our roads, whether registered or unregistered with a towing company. After the faulted vehicles are parked in their garages, the owners would then settle the cost with the towing operators. With this plan, vehicle owners without towing insurance would be responsible for the payment of their towing fees or get their cars auctioned after some period. This strategy, he believed, would ensure safety on our roads without enforcing all vehicle owners to pay mandatory fees.

“As we are resisting the mandatory fee, we should also think about the safety on our roads and I think towing and auctioning the faulted cars if their required fees are not paid, would be better than leaving the cars on our roads to take people’s lives away.” He said. Dr. Ayariga encouraged all Ghanaians to keep calm and wait for president Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision on the towing levy matter.