Manasseh Azure: Tow Broken-Down Vehicles, But Stop Forcing Ghanaians to Pay

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has called for the compulsory towing of broken-down vehicles from public roads but strongly opposed any arrangement that requires all vehicle and motorbike owners to pay an annual towing levy to a private company.

According to Mr Azure, vehicles that break down in the middle of roads pose a danger to other road users and should therefore be towed immediately.

He argued that private towing companies could be licensed to undertake compulsory towing services and recover their costs directly from the owners of vehicles that require the service.

“If someone's vehicle breaks down in the middle of the road, it poses danger to other road users. Such vehicles must be towed immediately,” he said in a Facebook post.

Mr Azure said vehicle owners who fail to arrange for the removal of their broken-down vehicles should have them towed compulsorily, with the owner paying the towing cost together with an applicable penalty.

He stressed that his opposition was not to compulsory towing itself but to what he described as attempts by politically connected individuals to exploit the problem for financial gain.

“No sensible person is against this. It keeps everybody safe,” he said.

“What we are against is when some people with political power want to stupidly steal from Ghanaians because there's a problem. That's what we fought against, and we'll fight it again this time, irrespective of which company gets that fraudulent deal.”

Mr Azure alleged that under a previous towing arrangement, only one company belonging to the Jospong Group was awarded a contract to tow broken-down vehicles across Ghana.

He further alleged that the contract did not provide for the company to collect payments directly from the vehicles it towed but instead required vehicle owners, including motorbike owners, to pay a compulsory annual towing levy regardless of whether their vehicles ever broke down.

According to him, the arrangement was designed to run for 20 years.

Mr Azure also criticised the alleged requirement that vehicles towed under the arrangement would be taken to designated parking facilities rather than directly to their owners’ mechanics.

He said owners would subsequently have to pay additional towing charges to move their vehicles from the designated parking facility to their preferred mechanic.

“Imagine the number of vehicles and motorbikes in Ghana. Imagine all of them paying annually to a single company, with a handful of towing vehicles,” he wrote.

Mr Azure argued that private companies should be allowed to earn money from towing services based on the work they perform rather than through compulsory payments imposed on the wider population.

“If private companies want to make money, they should work for it and be paid. The state should not use its power to rob the people for a shady company whose poor performance the government officials would not enforce,” he said.

He maintained that the cost of towing should be borne by motorists whose vehicles are actually removed from the roads, rather than by all vehicle owners through an annual levy.

“Let those whose vehicles the private companies compulsorily tow pay for their services. Tow at the offenders' expense, not at every Ghanaian's expense,” Mr Azure said.

His comments come amid renewed public discussion over how Ghana should manage broken-down vehicles on major roads and whether private companies should be contracted to provide compulsory towing services.

While supporting a system that removes hazardous vehicles from roads promptly, Mr Azure is calling for a model in which motorists pay for towing when the service is actually used, rather than being subjected to a compulsory nationwide levy.

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