Kwaku Ofori Asiamah gives his keynote address
The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has called on journalists to support road safety programmes to create greater awareness among road users in order to minimise the challenges of road safety management in the country.
Mr Ofori Asiamah made the call yesterday in Accra while delivering his keynote address at the official launch of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) campaign, dubbed “Stay Alive”, which is the Phase 2 of the ‘Arrive Alive, Road Safety’ campaign.
The campaign, according to him, focuses on education, advocacy, training, enforcement and a well-structured platform that will enable the NRSA, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) and other stakeholders join efforts to fight the menace of road crashes and casualties on the country’s roads.
He emphasised that, at the moment, the battle against road carnage is not yet over, as the country continues to record high road traffic crashes and casualties.
“Just a week ago, two major road traffic crashes occurred at Offinso and Akomadan, all in the Ashanti Region, killing 25 persons and injuring many others. This is unfortunate, and must not be allowed to happen. I wish to express my condolences and that of Government to all the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he said.
Charge
He said the narrative on road safety in the country, and Africa as whole must change, adding that changing the narrative largely depends on the role of the media.
“Our people, especially the youth, must not die through needless road traffic crashes, and everyone, particularly journalists, must resolve to adopt a positive road safety culture in order to fight against road fatalities and injuries,” he stated.
“The media must drive the message to every Ghanaian. Per the role defined in the campaign, the media is expected to provide daily road safety tips, engineer conversations on road safety issues, set-up weekly Time for Road Safety or Stay Alive panel discussion programme, and air road safety education audio-visuals and documentaries in various languages,” he noted.
He added that the media cannot fail the country ,as it is expected to conduct periodic interviews on road safety, publicise and promote infographics, features and articles on both traditional and social media channels for the wider view of Ghanaians.
The campaign saw in attendance officials of the Ministry of Transport, campaign partners, heads of institutions, transport operators, road safety advocates and other stakeholders to influence the general public to be advocates for road safety.
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