MINIMIZING ROAD
CARNAGE: THE ROLE OF
THE MTTU IN POLICING
AND PROSECUTING
MOTOR OFFENCES.
BY
ANGWUBOTOGE AWUNI
ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
CO, N/MTTU,ACCRA
1

STATISTICS
FROM MTTU(janjune,2011)
NO OF CASES VEHICLES
INVOLVED
9222
INJURIES
6449 6209
DEATHS
1081
2

HIT & RUN TANKER KILLED TWO HERE
3

19 DIED HERE
4

Guess the outcome?
5

6


Cont’d
The reality of the situation is that the havoc of road traffic accident is attributable to traffic indiscipline and all efforts should be put on the to counteract the problem
 The road is now a death trap instead of facilitating movement from one place to another
 The question is ,why in spite of the known causes of road traffic accident, the problem still persist?
 The answers are no far fetched
7

 Road safety in some countries with best practices has been built around the four Es of road,safety-Engineering,Education,
Enforcement and emergency response.
 A deficiency in one of these four Es in road safety results in dire consequences for any country.
 In Ghana, efforts are made to roll out the four
Es of road safety strategy but are fraught with many challenges.
8

 The police administration has placed issues of traffic management and road safety management high on its agenda.
 The 5 year strategic National Policing plan has adequate and elaborate strategies towards halting the ever increasing carnage on our roads.
9

 Traffic personnel are routinely deployed to decongest areas prone to traffic jams and congestion, particularly intersections and roundabouts during morning and evening rush hours.
 The police high command has dispatched a team of officers, drawn form the headquarters formation to augment the capacity of the
MTTU to manage traffic and reduce the spate
of traffic collision and congestion on our road.
10

 Traffic personnel are also assigned to accident-prone areas to check over speeding and drunk driving as well as to deal with other acts of indiscipline.
 The objective of these operation is geared towards making MTTU officers exert their presence and make them visible on the highways on daily basis to ensure compliance of Road Traffic Laws and regulations.
11

 From 2009 up till now, a team from the
MTTU through the Transword Consulting
Service Limited has trained about One hundred and fifty (150) VRA drivers.
 Feedback from the Transport department of VRA indicates that traffic accident recorded by VRA drivers over the past two years has reduced by fifty percent (50%).
12

The following specialized teams have been constituted to facilitate the work of the MTTU:
 Motorized Highway Patrol Teams
 Towing Services Teams
 Town Patrol Teams
 Investigations and Processing Teams
 Traffic Management Teams
 Accident Investigations Squads
 Presidential Route Team
 The Research and Education Team
13



The traffic offences Management systems
Team
Dispatch Riders team
 It is the intention of the command to create a team to deal with the Okada which is now a source of concern if manpower and the logistics situation improve.
 Red light team.
14

 From January to June this year, the teams in place have been able to make 4,020 cases.
 Out of that number, 2117 have been convicted
 GH¢462,272 has been bagged into the consolidated fund as fines from the conviction.
15


General Command & Control of the Police MTTU
The major problem within the existing MTTU of the Ghana Police Service is its lack of a clear command structure within the overall service.
 The Assistant Commissioner responsible for
NMTTU is in reality only in command of Accra
Central, and lacks authority in Greater Accra, let alone the rest of the country.
16


This provides no opportunity for preparing a strategic enforcement plan for the major highways where a high proportion of serious accidents happen.
 MTTU in Regions outside Accra are under he command of the various Regional
Commanders.
 The National MTTU lacks the operational capacity to operate in regions outside the
Accra Central Business District.
17

 Out of the total police strength of 2o,ooo the MTTU, makes for only 8.89 %
 The number is woefully inadequate and leaves the personnel thinly spread on the ground
 Most of the personnel are on temporary attachment
 Expertise and experience gained are taken away
 Divisional ,district and unit points are left unmanned, because the men are withdrawn for important assignments
 Training programmes most often abandoned
18

 Only a handful of MTTUs can boast of reliable vehicles
 The national MTTU boast of only 5 vehicles
 MTTU lacks all manner of vehicles
 Vehicles are old and unreliable
 Importance duties are therefore abandoned, because vehicles break down midway
19

 Motor cycles are needed for protocol escort duties and traffic patrols in towns and highways
 140 motorcycles were acquired in 2006
 Only 15 are now serviceable
 They are now old and unserviceable
 This affect the MTTUs ability to meet its obligation
20

 The MTTU has no motor hearse to support it in times of emergencies
 Transporting dead bodies in terms of fatal cases is always challenging
 The unit lacks the capacity to deliver this service and quite often has to improvise
 Where a service vehicle is not available conveying dead bodies resulting from motor crashes is always a problem
21

 The service has virtually collapsed
 The two vehicles spend more time in the mechanics workshop than in active services
22






Most traffic offences are strict liability offences
They therefore require concrete evidence to facilitate prosecution
The MTTU needs equipments such as speed radar guns, magic lights, Alco- meters, digital video cameras, digital height gauges etc to support human efforts
Over the years the unit has depended on charity from individuals and corporate bodies for the supply of those items
May of these items have broken down due to over usage
23

24

 There is generally poor knowledge of traffic rules and regulations by road users in Ghana.
25

 Undue interference in traffic offences investigations and prosecution militates against the units effectiveness
 Interference in cases has always been linked to weakness in enforcement and corruption
 Most persons perceive traffic offences as insignificant
 Others obstruct police through interventions ad pleadings for mercy
 This demotivates and encourages corruption among the police
26

 The process of justice will not be complete if an arrested motorist is not dealt with in our court of law.
Example
 Tracing the whereabouts of witnesses to testify in pending cases is difficult.
 such requests in many instances lead to the discharge of the accused;

27

 Failure of court to award stiffer punishments.
 We therefore heaved a sigh of relief when it was recently announced that a court complex was going to be built. This will allow the courts to deal with a few more cases than is the case now. There are difficulties at times to display pictorial evidence at the court as a result of the absence of modern technology that admit such evidence, i.e. video recordings of offending drivers;
28

 Deficiencies in road infrastructure regarding potholes poor or inadequate road signage and markings, absence of laybys and non- functioning traffic lights are also hampering the operations of the MTTU
29

Drivers are often irresponsible and careless of other road users and have little respect for traffic law.
30

 The needed Traffic Discipline in Ghana can be assured through:




Streamlined command & control issues related to
MTUs in Greater Accra.
Intensified road safety education, information and publicity to create greater awareness among motorists and the general public.
Improvement in the training and development of drivers to improve their professional skills.
Strict enforcement of provisions in the Road Traffic
Act, Act 683 of 2004 and Regulations.
31

 MTTU to increase Police visibility on our roads;
 Transport Operators with MTTU support to conduct basic checks on drivers and vehicles at lorry stations for compliance of some basic safety requirements prior to embarking on their journeys.
 NMTTU and DVLA to intensify enforcement of traffic laws and regulations;
32

 As regards long term measures, I recommend an enhancement of the capacity of the MTTU to enforce the provisions of the Traffic Laws and
Regulations. Some suggested actions towards this effort include;
 Increases in numerical strength of MTTU to 25% of the Police Service Strength.
 Regular in-service training programme for MTTU
Staff to enhance their professional capacity.
33

 Procure traffic enforcement equipment to support human efforts.
 Promulgation of Traffic Regulation brought/sent to Cabinet so that Spot Fines can be enforced for minor traffic offences.
34

35

36