By Kofi Akordor
Sometimes I wonder whether those who have taken it upon themselves or been put in certain positions to take care of our needs as a nation see the things the rest of us see or feel the same way as we feel when we are confronted with very unpleasant situations.
When the Accra-Tema Motorway was opened to traffic in the 1960s, it was easy to count the number of vehicles plying our roads. In those days, only a few individuals were in competition with the government and companies in vehicle ownership. Therefore, the roundabout at the Accra end of the Motorway, until recently the Tetteh-Quarshie Roundabout, and the one at the Tema end were adequate, both in design and construction, to carry the traffic that plied the road.
Things have changed over the years and the traffic on the Accra-Tema Motorway has multiplied several times and cannot in any way be compared with the lean traffic it carried in the past. Unfortunately, typical of us, we have not been able to expand and improve upon facilities in tandem with population growth or ease pressure on existing facilities.
The Motorway, seriously speaking, never saw any development except for the occasional weeding of the sides and filling of craters with bitumen. Apart from our zeal and eagerness to collect tolls, the four-lane road has remained what it was more than 40 years after its construction, without any expansion or modernisation. Seriously, it has, over the years, deteriorated into a death trap because of the numerous craters, the absence of inner and side markings to guide motorists and the darkness that engulfs it at night.
The road, which in the past passed through no human settlement, now virtually cuts east and west Accra into two. New communities, both prime and slum, have developed along the Motorway, making it dangerous for commuters who struggle daily to use unapproved entry and exit points to reach their destinations.
The communities on the western side include East Legon, Adjiriganno, Trasacco Valley, Adjei-Kojo and Ashaiman, while on the eastern side there are the vast residential and industrial estates along the Spintex Road Tema Communities 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.
Apart from the congestion and insecurity on the Motorway, the Spintex Road, which runs parallel to it and which carries heavy traffic from the new Tema communities mentioned earlier, Ashaiman, Tema Main and the many other vast residential and industrial properties, has not been developed and upgraded to effectively play the strategic role it has assumed.
Our biggest failure, so far as using the motorway is concerned, can be seen in the two roundabouts at the Accra and the Tema ends. The Kufuor Administration attempted to improve things by constructing an overhead bridge at Ashaiman to connect traffic from Tema and Ashaiman to the Motorway.
It also developed the Tetteh-Quarshie Roundabout and renamed it the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange. Incidentally, this was where that government failed the people of this country most. The Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange has nothing to boast about. It has no beauty and has done nothing to improve upon the traffic situation in that part of the nation’s capital.
Today, apart from Tetteh-Quarshie, which needs a lot of serious redesigning and reconstruction, the roundabout at the Tema end of the motorway needs serious and very immediate attention. The traffic situation at that place is not only unnerving but also an eyesore for our proud Port City of Tema.
This roundabout connects the Accra-Aflao-Lome-Cotonou-Lagos international road, the Accra-Akosombo-Ho road and beyond which carries traffic to the northern parts of the country. Finally, this is the roundabout which connects the Tema Port to Accra and the country’s Eastern Corridor, which is the gateway to Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Accra is our capital city and we need to upgrade the roads to reflect its international status and reduce the stress on driving in Accra. It is for this reason that those roundabouts or circles which dominated Accra’s landscape in the last 50 and more years should give way to fly-overs and interchanges.
These would not only make vehicle distribution in the city easier but would give Accra a new facelift to befit its status as a capital of a country that has declared itself as the Gateway to West Africa and also the new oil giant in the sub-region.
The circles which incidentally bear the names of some of the most illustrious sons of the land include the Obetsebi-Lamptey Circle, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and the Danquah Circle. All of them are on the Ring Road and contribute a lot to traffic congestion in the city.
Sometimes these traffic congestions give us the false impression that ours is a wealthy country with many people owning vehicles. That is not the case. We simply do not have good roads in the city.
Accra has outgrown these circles which have pushed our national capital many years behind other capitals in the world. We may complain of lack of funds for these projects. But what we should realize is that the state of our infrastructure and the level of development in our cities have psychological effects on those who want to come and do business here.
Dirty and poorly-developed roads, choked with traffic is very frustrating and time-consuming and cannot serve as an attraction to any serious-minded business person. They would come and go to return no more without offering any explanations.
According to experts, two overheads need to be constructed on the Motorway to ease traffic from the Spintex Road area and the East Legon, Trasacco Valley and Adjiriganno to the Motorway, Accra Central and the Beach Road linking Accra to Tema through Teshie and Nungua.
These projects should not be abandoned on the grounds of lack of funds because where there is the will, there is the way. Our leaders should be more proactive, imaginative and responsible and move out from the shadows of poverty. We are stagnating and not moving as a nation.
The perception that we admire and worship mediocrity should be erased from our minds If we do not confront development issues with greater determination, we may only succeed in putting money in the pockets of a few if even we are handed billions of dollars in oil money while still dancing around the real issues.
Accra, whether we like it or not, in comparative terms, is gradually developing into an overgrown village and not the dazzling city we would be proud of. Some may look behind them and come to that comforting conclusion that we are doing well. But the best thing to do in a race is to look ahead. If we should do that, we would realise that we have a long way to go.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Editor’s Note:
The column: ‘From my Rooftop’ , takes a break while the writer participates in an Advanced Journalism programme at the International Centre for Journalists, Washington, DC, USA.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
END THOSE UGLY NOISES (JULY 6, 2010)
ONE of the benefits of the 1992 Constitution is the guarantee of media freedom. This is not only the freedom of media professionals or institutions to operate without hindrance but the bigger freedom of the citizenry to exercise their right to freedom of expression.
In any pluralistic environment, the media become the leg on which democracy stands, for which reason media freedom is synonymous with the right of the individual to freely express himself/herself on matters of public interest.
Since the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution which ushered in the Fourth Republic, the media landscape has registered tremendous activity, and if numbers are the measure, we may add progress.
The Constitution dismantled the monopoly of the state over media ownership and brought on board numerous newspapers and radio and television stations. The multiplicity of media ownership created the platform for varied opinions and made it possible for members of the public, no matter their social, religious or political persuasion, to express themselves freely without let or hindrance.
The new order has also rendered very difficult any attempt by governments to control information. This is because if they do not give out information freely, other means will be adopted to get it in its adulterated or saturated form which, in any case, will make the government the loser.
Democracy thrives on information, since a well-informed citizenry is better disposed to make informed choices. The people are also better able to hold the government accountable on account of the fact they have various sources of information and are better able to determine the truth from falsehood.
The repeal of the Criminal Libel Law by the Kufuor administration further strengthened the position of media practitioners and gave them a more relaxed atmosphere to operate.
In all, society is the greatest beneficiary if media practitioners exhibit good conduct as professionals and exercise their discretionary powers with utmost care and caution.
Of course, these benefits did not come without a price. Like a crawling baby that has suddenly found himself on his feet and taking his first steps, there was overzealousness in the free media environment, which resulted in abuses. They included sensationalism, mudslinging and deliberate distortion of facts, over-politicisation of issues, outright insults and excessive use of profane language.
Some of the innovations introduced to involve many people in public debate and bring the media closer to the people include newspaper reviews on radio and television, media encounters and phone-ins to make it possible especially for those who otherwise would have been cut off from the formal communication process to get on board.
As was to be expected, all those innovations were seriously abused. Notwithstanding that, the general expectation was that with time, the media would adjust to their newly won freedom and practitioners would overcome the initial euphoria which overwhelmed some of them to allow professionalism to prevail.
As the days roll into weeks, months and years, there are no signs that the media will mature and assume their legitimate role as the fourth estate of the realm. Instead, in the main, they have become conduits for people to put into the public domain the worst forms of their animalistic characteristics.
There is no doubt that the media need to be combative if they are to keep the government on its toes and play their watchdog role effectively. However, what we have now, which is the platform given to people to launch unjustified attacks and heap insults on their political opponents, rake old wounds and fan tribal and ethnic sentiments, cannot be said to be in the best interest of Ghanaians.
The electronic media have a lot of influence over the public, especially for their dispersion and language flexibility. The television has an additional advantage of actuality, both in audio and video forms. Therefore, it has become an effective tool for reaching a wide range of audiences simultaneously.
It is for their potency that programmes telecast on radio and television should be carefully packaged, so that they do not create any discord in the minds of the people. Unfortunately, media platforms designed to involve as many people as possible in the governance process have become more or less an extension of political campaigns where narrow party interests, instead of the national interest, have dominated discussions and public contributions.
The viewing and listening public has been fed with vile propaganda, insults and reckless display of ignorance where they expect sober and dispassionate discussions on serious matters of national interest. There seems to be no improvement in the situation, apparently because the more traits of arrogance and indiscipline displayed by a party representative on radio and television, the more he/she is regarded as a strong and loyal party member.
This is buttressed by the fact that many of these radio and television commentators end up with juicy appointments whenever their parties are in government. Therefore, party activists are stampeding one another to prove who could be at his/her insulting best.
Ideally, the phone-ins offer governments the true measure to access their performance and determine their policy direction because of the opportunity they give a very large segment of the population to express themselves in any language of their choice on national issues.
Unfortunately, because callers can seek refuge under anonymity, these programmes are the most abused of media platforms. People phone in not to offer healthy and constructive contributions to the issues under discussion but to heap insults on perceived opponents and muddy the political waters.
Those who do the radio and television discussions on newspaper headlines also prefer picking political stories, to the neglect of several stories on other issues of national importance. We may pride ourselves on our political stability and democratic credentials, but we should be the first to admit that this country, considering its vast resources, has achieved very little in its 50-plus years of independence. Critical issues such as poor infrastructure, inadequate health and educational facilities, child delinquency, youth unemployment and massive corruption in public service are relegated to the background, replaced by discussions on frivolous and mundane matters that have very little to do with national development.
The recent confrontation on television between a New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist and an aide to the Vice-President of the Republic has brought into serious question the relevance of some of these radio and television programmes.
The amount of foul language spewed out by both parties and the cacophony of insults which followed from various quarters in support or condemnation of the two cannot be described as being the best for our democracy.
If it were an isolated case, one could have taken it for granted and considered it as part of man’s weaknesses. Unfortunately, it has become the norm, instead of the exception, whereby people use these media platforms to exchange unprintable words in the name of exercising their right to freedom of expression or practising democracy.
It is about time we brought to a halt what, by all indications, is tantamount to abuse of media freedom. The media owners and their agents must be told that if the objective is to encourage public discourse in national affairs and strengthen democratic governance, then they must be selective in the type of people they bring to their stations, other than that our democracy is better off without most of these operatives who have dominated our airwaves with their pollutants.
The notion that if you can speak English or any of the local languages then you can host or moderate a programme on radio or television is a fallacy. Journalism has moved beyond the apprenticeship era of bygone years. It is now a sophisticated profession and one needs a lot of talent and training to manage programmes. Seriously speaking, we cannot say that of many of the people who operate in the media, especially on radio and television, these days.
Once we have chosen the path, and once we have a Constitution which guarantees the freedom of expression, we shall continue to endure open discussions and expressions in the media.
However, we cannot afford the luxury of careless and irresponsible speech; we cannot afford insults and attacks on personalities; we cannot waste precious time discussing irrelevant matters bordering on narrow interests.
We need to focus on the real issues and discuss them dispassionately, without any political coloration. The media must set the agenda and carry the public along with them. But that can come from a media that are well-informed and understand the real issues.
That is why this nation will benefit a lot if we get well-groomed professionals and well-informed and level-headed politicians to handle programmes on radio and television, instead of opportunists and ugly noise makers who are having a field day on the airwaves.
In any pluralistic environment, the media become the leg on which democracy stands, for which reason media freedom is synonymous with the right of the individual to freely express himself/herself on matters of public interest.
Since the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution which ushered in the Fourth Republic, the media landscape has registered tremendous activity, and if numbers are the measure, we may add progress.
The Constitution dismantled the monopoly of the state over media ownership and brought on board numerous newspapers and radio and television stations. The multiplicity of media ownership created the platform for varied opinions and made it possible for members of the public, no matter their social, religious or political persuasion, to express themselves freely without let or hindrance.
The new order has also rendered very difficult any attempt by governments to control information. This is because if they do not give out information freely, other means will be adopted to get it in its adulterated or saturated form which, in any case, will make the government the loser.
Democracy thrives on information, since a well-informed citizenry is better disposed to make informed choices. The people are also better able to hold the government accountable on account of the fact they have various sources of information and are better able to determine the truth from falsehood.
The repeal of the Criminal Libel Law by the Kufuor administration further strengthened the position of media practitioners and gave them a more relaxed atmosphere to operate.
In all, society is the greatest beneficiary if media practitioners exhibit good conduct as professionals and exercise their discretionary powers with utmost care and caution.
Of course, these benefits did not come without a price. Like a crawling baby that has suddenly found himself on his feet and taking his first steps, there was overzealousness in the free media environment, which resulted in abuses. They included sensationalism, mudslinging and deliberate distortion of facts, over-politicisation of issues, outright insults and excessive use of profane language.
Some of the innovations introduced to involve many people in public debate and bring the media closer to the people include newspaper reviews on radio and television, media encounters and phone-ins to make it possible especially for those who otherwise would have been cut off from the formal communication process to get on board.
As was to be expected, all those innovations were seriously abused. Notwithstanding that, the general expectation was that with time, the media would adjust to their newly won freedom and practitioners would overcome the initial euphoria which overwhelmed some of them to allow professionalism to prevail.
As the days roll into weeks, months and years, there are no signs that the media will mature and assume their legitimate role as the fourth estate of the realm. Instead, in the main, they have become conduits for people to put into the public domain the worst forms of their animalistic characteristics.
There is no doubt that the media need to be combative if they are to keep the government on its toes and play their watchdog role effectively. However, what we have now, which is the platform given to people to launch unjustified attacks and heap insults on their political opponents, rake old wounds and fan tribal and ethnic sentiments, cannot be said to be in the best interest of Ghanaians.
The electronic media have a lot of influence over the public, especially for their dispersion and language flexibility. The television has an additional advantage of actuality, both in audio and video forms. Therefore, it has become an effective tool for reaching a wide range of audiences simultaneously.
It is for their potency that programmes telecast on radio and television should be carefully packaged, so that they do not create any discord in the minds of the people. Unfortunately, media platforms designed to involve as many people as possible in the governance process have become more or less an extension of political campaigns where narrow party interests, instead of the national interest, have dominated discussions and public contributions.
The viewing and listening public has been fed with vile propaganda, insults and reckless display of ignorance where they expect sober and dispassionate discussions on serious matters of national interest. There seems to be no improvement in the situation, apparently because the more traits of arrogance and indiscipline displayed by a party representative on radio and television, the more he/she is regarded as a strong and loyal party member.
This is buttressed by the fact that many of these radio and television commentators end up with juicy appointments whenever their parties are in government. Therefore, party activists are stampeding one another to prove who could be at his/her insulting best.
Ideally, the phone-ins offer governments the true measure to access their performance and determine their policy direction because of the opportunity they give a very large segment of the population to express themselves in any language of their choice on national issues.
Unfortunately, because callers can seek refuge under anonymity, these programmes are the most abused of media platforms. People phone in not to offer healthy and constructive contributions to the issues under discussion but to heap insults on perceived opponents and muddy the political waters.
Those who do the radio and television discussions on newspaper headlines also prefer picking political stories, to the neglect of several stories on other issues of national importance. We may pride ourselves on our political stability and democratic credentials, but we should be the first to admit that this country, considering its vast resources, has achieved very little in its 50-plus years of independence. Critical issues such as poor infrastructure, inadequate health and educational facilities, child delinquency, youth unemployment and massive corruption in public service are relegated to the background, replaced by discussions on frivolous and mundane matters that have very little to do with national development.
The recent confrontation on television between a New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist and an aide to the Vice-President of the Republic has brought into serious question the relevance of some of these radio and television programmes.
The amount of foul language spewed out by both parties and the cacophony of insults which followed from various quarters in support or condemnation of the two cannot be described as being the best for our democracy.
If it were an isolated case, one could have taken it for granted and considered it as part of man’s weaknesses. Unfortunately, it has become the norm, instead of the exception, whereby people use these media platforms to exchange unprintable words in the name of exercising their right to freedom of expression or practising democracy.
It is about time we brought to a halt what, by all indications, is tantamount to abuse of media freedom. The media owners and their agents must be told that if the objective is to encourage public discourse in national affairs and strengthen democratic governance, then they must be selective in the type of people they bring to their stations, other than that our democracy is better off without most of these operatives who have dominated our airwaves with their pollutants.
The notion that if you can speak English or any of the local languages then you can host or moderate a programme on radio or television is a fallacy. Journalism has moved beyond the apprenticeship era of bygone years. It is now a sophisticated profession and one needs a lot of talent and training to manage programmes. Seriously speaking, we cannot say that of many of the people who operate in the media, especially on radio and television, these days.
Once we have chosen the path, and once we have a Constitution which guarantees the freedom of expression, we shall continue to endure open discussions and expressions in the media.
However, we cannot afford the luxury of careless and irresponsible speech; we cannot afford insults and attacks on personalities; we cannot waste precious time discussing irrelevant matters bordering on narrow interests.
We need to focus on the real issues and discuss them dispassionately, without any political coloration. The media must set the agenda and carry the public along with them. But that can come from a media that are well-informed and understand the real issues.
That is why this nation will benefit a lot if we get well-groomed professionals and well-informed and level-headed politicians to handle programmes on radio and television, instead of opportunists and ugly noise makers who are having a field day on the airwaves.
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