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Who ‘owns’ the front seat of a private vehicle …wife or mother?
Mr. Peter Tweneboah Mensah
The front seat of a private vehicle has been the centre of controversy in many homes. This seat, which is beside the driver’s seat has over the years created tension between people.
One of such is between mother-in-laws and wives who feel they are entitled to sit in front whenever the two occupy the vehicle.
For the mothers (in-laws) because the driver, who is most often also the owner of the vehicle, is their son they feel they must at all cost occupy the front seat to feel dignified because they toiled to make him who he is.
The wives on the other hand are of the opinion that since their husbands own the vehicle, they are co-owners and have the right to decide where they wish to sit.
It is not clear what exactly is on the front passenger seat of a vehicle to warrant such struggles and even subsequently create tension at home.
In an interaction with a Family Life and Marriage Counsellor, Mr Peter Tweneboah Mensah on Monday at Ashaiman, he said there was no need for any debate on the subject about who should sit by the driver.
“That seat is for the wife. If it is her husband’s vehicle, it means it also belongs to her so she should decide where to sit,” he said.
According to Mr Mensah, if the wife decides not to sit on the front passenger seat it is her decision so no one should feel entitled and even “fight” her over it.
He said driving in the same car creates an opportunity for couples to spend time together to discuss issues.
“If someone else is occupying the front seat how will the couple communicate effectively,?” he questioned.
“Does he have to keep turning his head to talk to his wife? The Bible says the two shall be one, so it applies in many areas and this is no exception.
No one should try to separate a couple,” he said.
If husbands explain their wives’ position clearly to their mothers, it would reduce unnecessary tensions in families.
The Family Life and Marriage Counsellor said wives must extend the same courtesies to their husbands when they drive.
“I prefer sitting in front to watch the road and alert my husband of any impending dangers when he is driving because he is often absent-minded. It is just for safety sake and not dominance as some people think,” Mrs Angela Manu, a wife said in an interview with The Spectator.
A mother, Madam Faustina Adjei whose three sons own vehicles said sitting in front of her sons vehicles when they are drive makes her feel fulfilled as a mother which she wishes no one takes away from her.
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Ashaiman
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
