The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has arrested and prosecuted 70 taxi drivers for failing to comply with its directive for all taxi drivers to wear .uniforms. The drivers' failure to wear the uniforms violates the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (Taxi) Bye-laws, 2007 Section 5 which makes it mandatory for all taxi drivers within the metropolis to wear uniforms from January 10, 2008. The AMA, by its "Accra Metropolitan Assembly (Taxi) Bye-laws, 2007 Section 5", made it mandatory for all taxi drivers within the metropolis to wear uniforms from January 10, 2008, among other things. Section 10(1) of the bye-law states that "A person who contravenes a provision of these bye-laws commits an offence and is liable to a summary conviction to a fine of one hundred penalty units. One penalty unit, under the laws of Ghana, is GH¢2.00. Section 10 (2) states that: "A person who fails to pay the penalty imposed under sub-paragraph (1) shall have the vehicle impounded." The 70 offenders who were arrested and put before court were fined GH¢200 each. Confirming the action to the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Director of Communications of the AMA, Mr A1i Baba Abature, said compliance with the law did not depend on whether the people liked it or not and warned that taxi drivers had to comply or get arrested and prosecuted. He said a special task force made up of policemen and AMA guards was patrolling the city and added that it was that task force which arrested those who had refused to abide by the law. Mr Abature said the Local Government Act (462) empowered the assembly to pass any law which it deemed necessary to enable it to run the city so long as it did not contravene the 1992 Constitution. He said the bye-law passed through the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Attorney General's Department before it was gazetted. The measure, he said, was to make for easy identification of drivers within the metropolis and prevent the use of taxis for criminal activities, adding that any taxi driver who complained about the uniforms had ulterior motives. "The bye-law is clear and we have begun arresting them. They are to work within the law.' It is what the law says that matters and not what they think," he said. Mr Abature noted that when the AMA set out to emboss all taxis, there was an initial move by taxi drivers to resist it but after many months they had seen the wisdom behind the initiative. "Since we did the embossment, for example, no taxi which has been embossed has been used to engage in crime because the drivers know they can easily be traced. Their particulars are all here with us and it is difficult for them to hide," he added. Some taxi drivers within the Accra metropolis have refused to comply with the bye-law passed by the AMA which requires all taxi drivers to wear uniforms. A survey conducted by the Daily Graphic revealed that some drivers were in opposition to the directive and had, therefore, refused to abide by it. Many of the drivers, the paper found out, were what was usually referred to as "floating drivers" who did not belong to any union. Between 10 am and 12 noon on Tuesday, this reporter counted 20 taxis whose drivers did not have the prescribed uniform on. Kwame Asibey, taxi driver with an Opel Astra GT 5059 Y, told the Daily Graphic that he would not wear the uniforms and would resist any attempt by the AMA to ensure compliance. He said he did not see the rationale behind the directive and added that bad laws needed to be resisted. "I have embossed my taxi for easy identification as the AMA demanded so what else do they want? Are the uniforms also for easy identification? If they want us to wear uniforms, then they should provide the uniforms. I don't earn enough to enable me to buy six blue shirts and trousers. I don't understand why we are being harassed so much," he said. Another driver, Riehard Asem, with a Hyundai Excel GR 9066 T, also said he did not see the rationale behind the bye-law, and urged the AMA to scrap it. Source: Daily Graphic