Accra Central Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) Commander, DCOP Alphonse Adu-Amankwah, has dared the public to help engender an era of discipline on the roads.
He says combatting indiscipline on the roads is a collective responsibility and invites the travelling public to join hands with the police to ensure the rules are obeyed.
DCOP Adu-Amankwah who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Graphic Online, also discounted widely held views that police personnel prefer taking bribes from traffic offenders to prosecuting them hence the failure of the many campaigns to instill discipline on the roads.
According to the MTTD Commander, he has a lot of trust in his officers and will stand by them any day. Members of the public who have evidence to the contrary should make same available to enable the administration discipline its officers.
“It is not enough to accuse the police of bribery. People have sophisticated mobile phones and can record situations they suspect police officers are being compromised for onward action. Even if they don’t want to bring it to us, they can share it on social media to name and shame the alleged bad nuts. I’m sure such videos will get to us but until then, I have full trust in my officers.”
Declaring a “zero tolerance” for indiscipline on the roads, DCOP Adu-Amankwah said indiscipline is a major cause of most vehicular traffic, which in turn leads to the loss of precious productive hours. The quest for discipline on the roads therefore, begins with the MTTD officers themselves who he said are now under strict orders to wear their identifiable white uniforms for duty, all ranks included.
Responding to questions on the unwillingness of the police to take action in instances when so-called “big men” commit infractions on the roads, the commander said the police administration recognizes the challenge and have resolved to deploy officers in reasonable numbers to bolster their confidence to enforce the law.
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse though, but we reckon also that most road traffic infractions are misdemeanors and so the use of discretion to caution and educate first time offers is highly encouraged, but recalcitrant offenders need to be punished to serve as deterrent to the rest of the public. It is the reason why we are enlisting all stakeholders to join in the campaign for discipline. While we enforce proper behavior on the roads, we want the AMA to take charge of the pavements and we support each other”, he said.
DCOP Adu-Amankwah commended officers of the MTTD for their commitment to duty so far and said they should put in more effort to uproot indiscipline outright from the roads, describing road traffic management as perhaps the most difficult of policing jobs.
“We need a lot of public education, unfortunately we cannot buy media space for this because of adverts cost. That is why we enlist all stakeholders to play our respective roles. It will be difficult for the police to get rickety and smoking vehicles off the roads when the DVLA says they are good enough for the roads. The infractions have persisted for long but we shall succeed.”
Source: Daily Graphic
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DCOP Adu Amankwah kindly give us your WhatsApp number. make sure you have unlimited data and memory on your to download and store. I have 2 videos now.
amankwah, u dont know what u talking about.i stopped to buy tomatoe from a seller by the road side in Agbogba. i was out of my car calling my son at home telling him my location.a ***barred word*** constable approached me to demand gh 10.00 saying, i was on phone call by my car so i should give him transport. isn't this ***barred word*** enough to send a slap to the constable ? do not lie. God will not save any of you in the final day of your life. you take bribe everyday. dont bring yourself. liars and cheats. we shall see.
DCOP Adu Amankwah, you're clearly not fit for this job. Trust me, you will be fired pretty soon.
He living in a ***barred word*** paradise
This Police man himself must be a ***barred word***.. How could u dare the public on police bribes? sometimes these corrupt officials think we are ***barred word***, we live in Ghana and u are asking us to bring proof whether or not the Ghana police take bribe, this is an insult. The same people who pay u in the station when we have problem are the same people who meet u outside police station. That's why corruption wont end in Ghana.. Bring proof !!!!
DCOP Adu Amankwah, either you are living in a state of self denial or you are not on top of issues, worst still you are just saying something to provoke public opinion of the police MTTD, which is unfortunate. Just dress as a civilian and board Nkawkaw bound vehicle from Circle , Neoplan station. If you reach Nkawkaw without any uniformedpoliceman taking bribe from the driver of the lorry come and arrest me.Adɛn? Wahyɛ da anaa?
Okay, No problem we will use our phones to take shots whenever we see that from afar and I hope he will also act when the evidence are brought to him.
THIS OFFICER IS TRYING TO OUT SMART US. IT IS AN OPEN SECRET THAT SO CALL POLICE ONLY COLLECT MONEY FROM DRIVERS, BUT NOT TO CHECK SAFETY ISSUES.
Why woun't the police commander stand by his men? when the money is brought, he gets the bigger share so he will obviously defend them. Even a ***barred word*** can attest that the police on our roads collects bribes with impunity. Driving from tachiman to kintampo is just a straight road (40min drive) with no major road linking it but you can count about 10 police barriers and they collect money from drivers especially the big trucks. ***barred word*** people