Take Police off the streets

By Ama Achiaa Amankwah
A researcher has called for the need to relieve police personnel off their duties as road traffic controllers. Dr. Raymond Atuguba, a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, suggests that traffic control should be separated from the law and order function of the Ghana Police Service.
“Taking the police off traffic control and debt collection would deal with the public discomfort and also improve their (Police) image in the eyes of the public”, he advised.

In his view, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) must be empowered to take up the traffic control role since they have a comparative advantage over the Police in that area. “Traffic control is closely related to the function of the DVLA as it is also the only state institution that has the technical expertise, the equipment and the system to do effective traffic control. It is only the DVLA that can verify whether a road worthy certificate is fake or not.”

Dr. Atuguba, who is also the Executive Director of the Legal Resources Centre stated this when he led a roundtable discussion organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs, (IEA) in Accra, themed, “The Ghana Police Service a Practical Agenda for Reform.”

He emphasized that although maintenance of law and order is a traditional function of the police, it is not an exclusive one, since there are other institutions created for that role, even though Ghanaians do not realize it.
He cited the Ghana Immigration Service, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Ghana Standards Board and Labour Commission, as some of such institutions.

According to the lecturer, taking police off traffic control would deal with some of their despised functions in terms of public discomfort, corruption and shear arrogance. “We need to drive home to them that they are not all powerful and indispensable. We must remind them that they are to work continuously to justify their relevance.”

He recalled a survey conducted between 2001 and 2005 by some institutions including the Centre for Democratic Development on Human Rights Practices in Ghana, which revealed that there was increasing public dissatisfaction with the police.

Chief Superintendent Victor Tandoh, Commanding officer of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, said police personnel also provide security as they control traffic. He explained that there have been instances where the police have arrested fraudsters and criminals as they controlled traffic.
Chief Supt. Tandoh called for improved conditions of service and logistics for the police to enhance their work. Police personnel in Ghana are overburdened because the police public ratio is one is to thousand, (1000), instead of one of one to five hundred (500).