“?I do not know what the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is planning and doing but in my candid opinion, it is one of the things we need to allow decentralisation to work,” he stated.

Sharing his views on the decision by the government not to implement the mandatory towing levy scheduled to have started on July 1, 2017, Dr Nduom told the Daily Graphic in a telephone interview that “it is good  for the government to take a second or third look at the mandatory towing levy and consider the best global practices for implementation.”

News context

Following extensive consultations between the Ministry of Transport and stakeholders in the transport sector, the government has decided not to implement the mandatory towing levy.

A statement signed by the Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, and issued in Accra last Sunday, said the government had decided to seek a review of parts of the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2180 (Road Traffic Regulations, 2012).

It said the review would seek to remove from the law specifically the concept of mandatory towing levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles and trailers and also limit the role of the government in the provision of towing services for only licensing and regulating service providers.

In 2012, Parliament passed L.I. 2180. Regulation 102 (3) of L.I. 2180 which imposes a mandatory levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles for the purpose of towing breakdown or disabled vehicles from the roads.

Based on that, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) announced that the L.I. would be implemented from July 1, 2017.

That was, however, met with public outcry and calls on the government to review the mandatory towing levy.

Disabled vehicles

According to Dr Nduom, in many advanced countries, local administration backed by the appropriate laws were tasked to remove disabled vehicles from the road.

He said the local administration, in collaboration with the Police Service in some cases, towed breakdown vehicles from the roads for a fee.

“That is the kind of system in my candid view we must adopt to sanitise and make our roads safe and user friendly,” he stated.

He said it was not always at the national level that decisions to tow vehicles must be implemented and could be successfully implemented.

Pat on back of NPP

The founder of the PPP and magnate, Dr Nduom, however, patted the Akufo-Addo-led government on the back for scrapping the mandatory towing levy scheduled to have started in July.

According to him, he would have been part of a demonstration to protest the implementation of the towing levy that he said did not make sense.

“It is a good move. I would have joined a coalition formed against the mandatory towing levy to march up and down this country, north, south, east and west because it just did not make any sense. Why make every vehicle owner pay for the problems caused by a few identifiable people? The law should be amended to put the levy where it belongs. Tow the vehicles and make the owners pay for the breakdowns. Give the contract for towing to whichever company or companies that have the capability to do the work. That’s all,” Dr Nduom wrote on his Facebook page.

Government has backed down on the controversial towing levy following sustained opposition that has continued to be mounted since the initial attempt by government to implement it.

The policy would have imposed a mandatory fee on all vehicle owners in the country to enable the contractor to evacuate breakdown vehicles on roads across the country.

A statement announcing the cancellation of the contract said: “The government has decided not to implement, the mandatory towing levy which was scheduled to have commenced on  July 1, 2017.

“This follows extensive consultation between the minister of transport and stakeholders in the transport sector.”

The statement signed by the Transport Minister, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, noted the government would seek a review of the law.

Background

Statistics available at the NRSC indicate that 21 per cent of road accidents are caused by abandoned breakdown vehicles on the roads.

According to the commission, six persons died daily through road accidents while an estimated 1,800 died yearly on the roads.