Suspend Motor Court: Drivers, NPP activists cry
Gilbert Boyefio
17/06/2008
Trotro drivers have been the main victims It has strongly been advocated that the work of the motor court be suspended as the rationale behind it is seriously being abused.
This paper has received innumerable complaints from drivers, car owners and commuters about the alleged abuse of the powers of the court by the police, who have turned the threat of sending drivers to the court as the fastest way of getting the drivers to part with a bribe.
Adding his voice to the call for the suspension of the operations of the court to enable it undergo some fine tuning, a top official of the ruling New Patriotic Party told The Statesman yesterday noted that some personnel of the Police Service are using the motor court as a weapon to intimidate and arbitrarily arrest drivers who are arraigned before the court for the slightest offence. He is worried that the attitude of the police was affecting the gains so far made by the NPP Government.
He has therefore, called for the resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Patrick Acheampong, as he (IGP) had not been able to arraign before court any Police personnel as having taken undue advantage of the institution of the court.
Joseph Asamoah-Gyamfi, a member of the National Research Committee of the NPP who expressed these concerns to The Statesman, indicated that a research conducted by the Committee during the period May to June 2007, showed that "due to the abuse of the motor court by some police personnel, President Kufuor is now unpopular amongst drivers". He noted that this situation had nothing to do with increase in petroleum prices.
Mr Asamoah-Gyamfi said a copy of the research findings was given to the Minister for the Interior, who in turn made the Inspector General of Police aware of it. He emphasised that the IGP had failed to take any action to bring "sanity to the situation."
The NPP guru argued, "If the presence of the police on the road was to deter people from committing an offence, why should they be hiding behind electric poles and other obscure places to see whether anyone will break the law in order to affect an arrest."
Asamoah-Gyamfi posited that when a driver is taken to the motor court he is fined between GH¢300 to GH¢600 and in default, goes to prison for three months. He said because of these huge fines, most drivers prefer to give the arresting officer 'something' so that they could be let off the hook. He complained that when drivers are arraigned before the court they are not given time to find any legal representation but are rather made to defend themselves.
The NPP top figure further pointed out that the new Road Act demands that the police collaborate with the Ministry of Transportation to draw up a new set of traffic regulations which will make it possible for the former to impose spot fines for certain road offences, which in default may result in a court action.
According to him, "the IGP is not cooperating with the Ministry of Transportation in this regard", and consequently accused him and the Police Service of being very selective in their duties.
The member of the Research Committee noted that the NDC had started using the motor court as a campaign tool to discredit the NPP.
Adding his voice to the need for the modification of the Motor Court during the interview, Abeeku Dickson, Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, was of the view that Ghana's road network is structured in a way that road users find it difficult to comply with traffic regulations.
He explained that no provision had been made on most of the country’s road networks for parking and stopping, yet drivers are arrested for parking or stopping on the shoulders of the road.
He said signages on the roads are not enough and that the few ones available are often blocked by big advertisement boards.
Mr Abeeku said "this situation is very predominant in Swedru, where a particular one way road has no sign to warn road users", adding that "this unfortunate situation always results in chaos and carnage on the road, especially involving visitors".
The Special Assistant pointed out that prior to the passage of this law, there should have been some consensus and education among drivers. He is also of the opinion that "if the law has to be enforced then the necessary infrastructure should be made available to road users."
Taking on the police, he said some police personnel were taking advantage of the lack of synergy between the new law and the lack of road infrastructure to "terrorise" all road users to enrich themselves. He noted that this situation was gradually straining the already fragile police-public relations.
Mr Abeeku stressed that the existence of the motor court, coupled with the "unprofessional conduct of some police personnel," was worrying as the law "is not fair to drivers," especially those who have been jailed for failure to pay the huge fines imposed by the motor courts for petty offences.
He appealed to the law makers to desist from using Accra as a model for passing certain laws since facilities and circumstances differ from region to region. "What these laws, such as the one being used by the motor court, end up doing is to breed corruption", he observed.
The two NPP gurus are of the opinion that reducing the fines as recently announced by the Attorney General, is not enough, and appealed to the President to get the Ministers of Interior, Justice and Transportation to rope in the police and the IGP to work on the new traffic regulations and educate the driving public before implementing it.
17/06/2008
Trotro drivers have been the main victims It has strongly been advocated that the work of the motor court be suspended as the rationale behind it is seriously being abused.
This paper has received innumerable complaints from drivers, car owners and commuters about the alleged abuse of the powers of the court by the police, who have turned the threat of sending drivers to the court as the fastest way of getting the drivers to part with a bribe.
Adding his voice to the call for the suspension of the operations of the court to enable it undergo some fine tuning, a top official of the ruling New Patriotic Party told The Statesman yesterday noted that some personnel of the Police Service are using the motor court as a weapon to intimidate and arbitrarily arrest drivers who are arraigned before the court for the slightest offence. He is worried that the attitude of the police was affecting the gains so far made by the NPP Government.
He has therefore, called for the resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Patrick Acheampong, as he (IGP) had not been able to arraign before court any Police personnel as having taken undue advantage of the institution of the court.
Joseph Asamoah-Gyamfi, a member of the National Research Committee of the NPP who expressed these concerns to The Statesman, indicated that a research conducted by the Committee during the period May to June 2007, showed that "due to the abuse of the motor court by some police personnel, President Kufuor is now unpopular amongst drivers". He noted that this situation had nothing to do with increase in petroleum prices.
Mr Asamoah-Gyamfi said a copy of the research findings was given to the Minister for the Interior, who in turn made the Inspector General of Police aware of it. He emphasised that the IGP had failed to take any action to bring "sanity to the situation."
The NPP guru argued, "If the presence of the police on the road was to deter people from committing an offence, why should they be hiding behind electric poles and other obscure places to see whether anyone will break the law in order to affect an arrest."
Asamoah-Gyamfi posited that when a driver is taken to the motor court he is fined between GH¢300 to GH¢600 and in default, goes to prison for three months. He said because of these huge fines, most drivers prefer to give the arresting officer 'something' so that they could be let off the hook. He complained that when drivers are arraigned before the court they are not given time to find any legal representation but are rather made to defend themselves.
The NPP top figure further pointed out that the new Road Act demands that the police collaborate with the Ministry of Transportation to draw up a new set of traffic regulations which will make it possible for the former to impose spot fines for certain road offences, which in default may result in a court action.
According to him, "the IGP is not cooperating with the Ministry of Transportation in this regard", and consequently accused him and the Police Service of being very selective in their duties.
The member of the Research Committee noted that the NDC had started using the motor court as a campaign tool to discredit the NPP.
Adding his voice to the need for the modification of the Motor Court during the interview, Abeeku Dickson, Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, was of the view that Ghana's road network is structured in a way that road users find it difficult to comply with traffic regulations.
He explained that no provision had been made on most of the country’s road networks for parking and stopping, yet drivers are arrested for parking or stopping on the shoulders of the road.
He said signages on the roads are not enough and that the few ones available are often blocked by big advertisement boards.
Mr Abeeku said "this situation is very predominant in Swedru, where a particular one way road has no sign to warn road users", adding that "this unfortunate situation always results in chaos and carnage on the road, especially involving visitors".
The Special Assistant pointed out that prior to the passage of this law, there should have been some consensus and education among drivers. He is also of the opinion that "if the law has to be enforced then the necessary infrastructure should be made available to road users."
Taking on the police, he said some police personnel were taking advantage of the lack of synergy between the new law and the lack of road infrastructure to "terrorise" all road users to enrich themselves. He noted that this situation was gradually straining the already fragile police-public relations.
Mr Abeeku stressed that the existence of the motor court, coupled with the "unprofessional conduct of some police personnel," was worrying as the law "is not fair to drivers," especially those who have been jailed for failure to pay the huge fines imposed by the motor courts for petty offences.
He appealed to the law makers to desist from using Accra as a model for passing certain laws since facilities and circumstances differ from region to region. "What these laws, such as the one being used by the motor court, end up doing is to breed corruption", he observed.
The two NPP gurus are of the opinion that reducing the fines as recently announced by the Attorney General, is not enough, and appealed to the President to get the Ministers of Interior, Justice and Transportation to rope in the police and the IGP to work on the new traffic regulations and educate the driving public before implementing it.
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