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Ghana is not lacking in laws that will ensure discipline in all spheres of human endeavour. There are many laws presently in our statute books and Parliament is passing more, all in an attempt to build a law-abiding society.

We need laws in order not to attain the state of nature where might is always right and it is the rule of man that prevails, instead of respect for the rule of law.

That is why in a democratic dispensation as pertains in Ghana today, Parliament is empowered to, among other functions, hold the purse strings of the Executive, have oversight over the activities of the government and make laws for the people.

Besides the laws crafted by Parliament, there are other pieces of regulations by the various district assemblies and regulatory bodies. There is no dearth of laws on our statutes. If there is a problem, then it has to do with the enforcement of the various laws and regulations.

AND In spite of the numerous bye-laws, there is a breakdown of law and order. On the streets of Accra, for instance, the environment is degraded with impunity, while animals, including cattle, sheep and goats, roam the streets, even the so-called ceremonial routes.

Why we are unable to crack the whip to ensure compliance with the norms of a law-abiding society is difficult to conjecture, except to say that by our actions we have allowed impunity to reign in society.

And unless the axe falls heavily on those who break the law, no matter their status in society, these fine pieces of legislation will remain mere paper tigers.
WE think we do not need to go far to appreciate the utter disregard for law and order because since the sittings of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) , no public official accused of misappropriating public funds has been dealt with, although the financial regulations have clear-cut steps to deal with those officials.

Every now and then we pledge to fight corruption, and yet our actions do not support our claim for zero tolerance for corruption.

The Procurement Law, the Whistleblowers Law and other pieces of legislation were put in place to ensure transparency and accountability in the conduct of public business in the country.

In fact, there is more to do by the government, civil society groups, the media and everybody to make the embezzlement of public funds a risky business. Our laws must be deterrent enough to get our people to shy away from corrupt practices.

It is for these reasons that Today agrees with those who hold the view that our leaders have a penchant for coming out with numerous regulations and legislative frameworks but fail in seeing them implemented.
WE therefore appeal to the law enforcement agencies to punish wrong doing in order to make life comfortable for all law-abiding citizens. We should not allow law breakers to have a foothold on society by the show of impunity in all fields of endeavour.