THE FAITH OF A DRUNKARD

It was a Saturday, 20th June, 2015; `the launch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)Agenda 50/50 (kyem p3) for Eastern Region held at Suhum. I was there in my capacity as Dennis Kwame Ofori-Asiedu Modeccai Agbeli (aka; Kwame Dennis) and as a former formal NDC National Communications Team Member, well trained and prepared to communicate and advocate for our party at all levels. Interestingly I was introduced as the incoming NDC Member of Parliament for Biakoye Constituency. Truth is, I am not yet but INSHA ALLAH, I SHALL BE, COME 2016. Going to such functions in public transport is not something I do because of some bitter experiences in the past. I did not have a car that morning; my old BMW 520 has an electrical problem. Sending it to such a function will be as good as walking from Accra to Suhum. Ask Kwesi the tiler his experience travelling in that bad car from Amanya to Accra sometime last month. My more reliable Hyundai Atoz Prime has also been at the shop undergoing major transformation to suit the projects ahead. After three days of refusal, my mechanics decided to fix the Atoz half way for me to send to suhum. That morning, I had to replace two tyres and fix the alignment before setting off. Worse; the battery had to be jumped to get the car's engine started. We set off to Suhum at 9.30am. The journey was smooth until we got to Adoagyiri. The car was overheating so I stopped. Efo, the mechanic saw us and walked to us himself. He managed to fix the problem for us to continue our journey. At Suhum, we went straight to Apollo to eat fufu. Boys couldn't have taken the fufu without 'appetite'. Looking at the bad parking at the station, where the function was going on, I Parked the car very far away from the station for easy movement after the programme. We joined the people at the station. I did two live radio discussions and interactions with some known and unknown comrades. Then it started drizzling, then pouring, then it stopped. Hurriedly, the operation 50/50 was launched. The rain came again to stop the programme completely. The only group that refused to move was the borborbor group. We met at the MCE's residence for refreshment and further discussion of earlier events. It was great being part of the occasion. I am sure you are wondering why I am giving you this long and winding story. Just wait, I need to give you the whole stuff so you can associate. We left Suhum around 7pm, We entered the first fuel station but there was no attendant. Moving to the second, which was just few meters away, there was protest so I drove in another direction, hoping to see a fuel station ahead. We were four in the car. Myself, a Muslim in fasting mode, a drunk broadcaster and a lady. Because it was still raining, we were moving very slow yet steadily. At Kyekyewere, we ran out of fuel. I hurriedly got a gallon from the car and stood in the rain. The Capital TV crew helped me to a filling station very fast. I got the fuel and stood in the rain again to seek help. A truck driver stopped to assist. I got the fuel into the car, sat in the driver's seat to move then we realized the battery had ran down completely. Now, what do we do? My hungry friend and drunk friend started pushing the car but there was no good result. My hungry friend took over the steer for me to join the drunk man but nothing came out. After all attempts to get help failed, we gave up. This drunk man said, let's push again it will start, We agreed and they started, after about 500m, my hungry friend gave up and sat in the car. My drunk friend kept pushing alone. I tried and tried and tried but it was not starting. He instructed me to relax; I obeyed, he called me to try again; I did. For about three times and it started. He ran ahead of the car for another 150m before joining the car. This time, it was almost 9pm. We were all touched by his faith knowing his state at that point. This is not to promote the drinking of alcohol. This man here did not allow his drunk state to sway his desire to get home. We have learnt not to stop because of small challenges. We have learnt to push till we succeed even when our batteries run down and we are drunk.

PUTTING OUR SCRAPS TO GOOD USE

After staying off this platform for so long, I am here again to make a harmless suggestion, hoping it will not give me any problems as the last one on "Okada" did. Permit me to comment on the strike by some driver organization(s) on Monday, June 1, 2015 leading to the arrest of about 33 of them, who, according to the police violated some laws of Ghana. As a political communicator and a law student, friends called to ask me why the police arrested the drivers. In the view of my friends which I know is the view of all Ghanaians including myself, the drivers had a right to demonstrate. What we fail to realize most of the time is that, rights go with responsibilities. Their right to demonstrate required them to have notified the police, five (5) clear days at least, before the event; in which case the police would have a duty to ensure their security. So as stated by McRuer, ....right is precisely defined, given and protected by law. But in all these, the drivers have some point just the same way the policy makers have same. We cannot continue experiencing motor accidents on our roads everyday. We cannot submit to the naivety and rudeness of some uneducated drivers on our roads everyday. It has to end at a point. Question is, must it be radical? NO,,,,No need for a radical approach. There must be a converging point for policy makers and the drivers towards the safety of all of us; road users. On this note, I wish to draw the attention of all stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Transport, DVLA and the Road Safety Division to the existence of the only state institution established for the purposes of adult literacy: Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education. Due to lack of logistics and materials, this division of highly trained, though poorly motivated staff are almost redundant. The maintenance of old and unreliable classes, is for the sake of keeping one's job. The personnel are waiting for work to do. In the current dispensation where the driver is required to acquire some reading, writing and arithmetic/computer skills as an adult, it falls within the ambiance of their operations as providers of adult literacy. Non-Formal Education (NFE) has been doing this training of adults without interfering with the trade of learners for years. There are records to show and individuals all over the country to testify. I will therefore suggest through my small post box to my Hon. Minister of Transport, Hon. Minister of Education, DVLA, NRSD and the Driver Unions to collaborate with Non-Formal Education to put together a 21 month well structured, full cycle Driver Education Module that will benefit the drivers and their mates greatly at little or no cost to them. Non-Formal has the personnel to train our drivers and their mates in any Ghanaian language and top it up with English language if the learner so desires. Currently, some cocoa companies have employed this almost free service of NFE to educate their farmers in the appropriate use of modern trends in cocoa production. I am reliably informed that the companies have not regretted engaging them. Humbly, I entreat stakeholders in this DVLA/Drivers impasse to engage the NFE to bring this to an eternal closure.