What about Sierra Leone’s Commercial Transport Drivers…?
It is indeed pitiful to reckon that indiscipline and lawlessness continue to plague every facet of our country. The issue of insubordination of the rule of law has become insipid in the eyes of well meaning and patriotic citizens and much to the chagrin of well wishers.
Quite lately, authorities have realized that the cracks in the observance of law and order are even more pervasive than ever before. The emergence of Operation WID and the conformity with which it was greeted speaks volume of the fact that our compatriots fully well recognize the tenets of the laws of the land but yet they woefully flout these very commandments that seeks to maintain peaceful co-existence.
We witnessed the notorious Abacha Street traders pulling aback while the conspicuously lawless ‘okada’ riders adhering to traffic rules and even abandoned vehicle owners were in a mad rush to rid their properties off the streets. But is it that the trumpeted operation is reserved for street traders and ‘okada’ riders alone? If no, then let us take a leaf of the reckless and wicked attitude of local commercial transport drivers.
The sector seems to have gone astray with defiant drivers plunging commuters into unnecessary frustration as the days go by. Commercial transport drivers have deliberately ignored the various route signs that were initiated by the Sierra Leone Road Transport Authority (SLRTA), thus enjoying the serenity of the very traffic police and wardens that are supposed to be maintaining the rule of law.
Unlike what it was in the past, it is almost impossible to board a commercial vehicle from far west in Lumley or far east in Calaba Town to the central business district of the capital Freetown. Instead, these drivers have chosen to segment the prescribed routes only to siphon gullible passengers who are forced to pay three times the required fare before reaching their various destinations in the center of town.
It is rather unfortunate that these unscrupulous drivers could not realize that this wicked act is being perpetuated on average Sierra Leoneans who are not fortunate to own private vehicles. Most interestingly, this show of indiscipline is reportedly being done in connivance with the law enforcers that are allegedly accepting tips from these drivers for them to turn a blind eye to their ill motivated mannerism.
Workers and school going children are perpetually stranded to access transportation on a daily basis and no one seems to care about this menace at all. To get these heartless drivers to be law abiding is as easy as drinking soup. Arrest, impound their vehicles and prosecute them, levy fines and upon receipt of payment their vehicles handed back to them. Simple! Let us join in and wage a war against indiscipline for the good of our beloved homeland.
If we should consider the overhauling percentage that catapulted President Ernest Bai Koroma to a second term of office and the widespread acceptance of the people, then we must adhere to his clarion call for a change of attitude and for all to be law abiding.
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