Dear Editor,

I have realised an attempt by some Metropolitan and District Assemblies to help school children to cross major roads on their way to school by placing personnel at certain points to ensure that.

The officials often appear in reflector lemon green vests and are positioned at vantage points and are seen stopping vehicles to enable the children cross over safely.

There are quite a few who are just doing it for the love for this children because they don’t work for the assemblies.

All the same, the effort is quite commendable but looking carefully at the way they go about this, I see the need for the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service or the appropriate agency to offer these personnel some training.

On one of my days to I work, I observed how a man just stepped on the road to stop speeding vehicles for the children to cross.

In the instance, the drivers had to apply instant brakes. A few got out to register their protest with the man’s approach while the children stood watching.

That was not the first time I witnessed such an incident. I believe that when such personnel are trained, they would be made to understand that the road must be ‘quiet’ to some extent before waving drivers to stop for the children to cross.

Through that, the children would also learn that it is not automatic that every vehicle must stop when they get to the crossing point.

I implore the MTTD to go out and identify some of the people positioned at those crossing points and train them to know much about the role.

Nii Kwei Marshall,

Adabraka

Dear Editor,

It is sad to hear that a football fan has lost his life at a match venue.

It has thrown the football fraternity into a state of mourning.

The incident which occurred on Sunday when Nsoatreman FC played Asante Kotoko in a Premier League game highlights the lack of proper security measures at the various match venues across the country at all levels of our football.

Over the years, there have been issues of violent attacks on match officials, sports journalists, and opposition supporters by fans of home teams.

However, most of these cases are not addressed by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

When such incidents happen, the team that is involved often get banned from playing at their home grounds, while the supporters go unpunished.

This has not yielded the needed results as we continue to see violent acts at our stadiums.

In view of the recent incident, I recommend that appropriate security measures be put in place by the GFA to protect teams, match officials, and sports journalists. 

To begin with, I suggest that any team that travels to honour league matches should be provided with adequate security.

Also, certain venues in the Bono region, should be allocated a greater number of security personnel to ensure the safety of both home and travelling supporters.

The two most successful football clubs in the country, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, should also lead reforms of the league, as often seen in Europe and North Africa, where teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Al Ahly and Zamalek take the bold step in ensuring that decisions regarding the salaries of players, their welfare and security measures at match venues were not only taken for granted.

For that to happen, representatives of these two clubs at the Executive Committee of the GFA need to be vocal and stand firm with the decision they make.

Atom,

Accra