Tow levy saga: ‘yen tua’ - Nduom tells Akufo-Addo

President of Groupe Nduom (GN) and two-times presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has kicked against the yet to be implemented mandatory towing levy.

Dr. Nduom criticised government’s decision to approve the mandatory towing levy as proposed by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).

This follows the passage of a Legislative Instrument (LI) on the road tow levy by Parliament’s Road and Transport Committee.

According to Dr. Nduom, the law only allows for towing of vehicles wrongfully parked on the country’s roads as per section 21 of the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) and Regulation 102 of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (LI 2180), hence his declaration ‘Yen Tua,’ to wit ‘we’ll not pay.’

The celebrated entrepreneur was speaking on a wide range of national issues, and his conglomerate, Groupe Nduom (GN), yesterday in Accra on First New Network (FNN).

The programme was also broadcast live on three television channels and over 20 radio stations across the country.

Dr. Nduom could not understand why government would make the towing levy mandatory, wondering if all Ghanaians would engage in wrongful or illegal parking.

He alleged that the move was to extort monies from drivers, and channel it to some unknown government officials.

To this end, Dr. Nduom urged government and all stakeholders in the transport industry to follow due process to charge towing levy from persons who fall foul of the road regulations as stipulated by the laws instead of retrieving monies from all vehicle owners.

He further urged drivers in the country to protest the policy till the desired results are achieved. On the ongoing Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) saga, the business magnate called for the removal of all the seven (7) Commissioners from the Commission.

He argued that the actions of the Commissioners had brought the integrity and image of the Commission into disrepute, hence the need for them to be removed.

“As for this EC, the law must be changed so we have a different way of bringing somebody before things get worse. We demand that they should all go. This is because they are posing a great danger to our democracy by their acts, and it is not even Papa Kwesi Nduom who is saying it but they themselves,” he said.

In his view, the way and manner the constitution allows a sole person to appoint the commissioners was not the right way to go.

“This is because we do not know the thinking of the person who has been appointed. In this world no one person can be said to be the repository of wisdom. Also the clause that guarantees the EC to be independent makes them lord over the people,” he stated.

He further argued that for democracy to flourish in any country, the electoral body must be seen to be fair and transparent in all its dealings.

“So if this institution that has been mandated to ensure democracy in every country by conducting elections to elect our leaders has some form of defects in its operations, it therefore, means that the governance of this country is blemish. It means that there is a problem. If the EC is compromised and loses credibility, our democracy also loses credibility.

…Today I can tell you that the EC has lost credibility, so our democracy too has lost credibility,” Dr. Nduom said.

According to him, if a group of Ghanaians had not petitioned the President, the chairperson of the EC wouldn’t have come out to allege that someone in her office created additional polling stations.

“What I’m telling Ghanaians is that let us all read the constitution because there are some clauses which we have not followed. I respect Nana Akufo-Addo as the President but if I look at the way the election was conducted I can tell you that it was wrong. There was some blemish,” Dr. Nduom alleged.

He recounted what the EC did to him prior to the 2016 election which, he said, affected the electoral fortunes of the PPP.

He also alleged that in 2000, as an aspiring Member of Parliament (MP), the EC connived with the then District Chief Executive for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) Municipality to cause 10 ballot boxes to disappear from his constituency.

“I was on the way of winning, and all of a sudden 10 boxes disappeared and re-appeared later. I was surprised because I was winning but only lost later by a small margin. I took the matter to court for four years but I always had the confidence that if I did this or that it would be okay but when I got to the national level I found that the game was something different,” he said.

“October 10, 2016 was a day I will never forget in my life; I’m also praying that Charlotte Osei, (EC Boss), will also not forget in her entire life on things she started doing in this country. It was not only against me.

…My feeling is that it was a deliberate attempt orchestrated not only by her but led by her to try to reduce the number of contestants. I’m praying that she grows older so that she may have so many years to remember what happened on that fateful day October 10, 2016 because she destroyed my political career,” Dr. Nduom added.