President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana cannot delay the rollout of TraffiTech-GH until roads and related infrastructure are in perfect condition, arguing that road safety enforcement must proceed alongside efforts to improve the roads.
In an exclusive interview with the Founder and Team Lead of The1957News, Bernard Kwesi Odompleh (Nene), the President said speed cameras are needed to curb speeding and protect vulnerable road users, including schoolchildren who are frequently struck by speeding vehicles.
The interview took place on the sidelines of a breakfast meeting for Commonwealth Heads of Government at Jumby Bay Island in Antigua and Barbuda. The meeting was convened by Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
President Mahama’s comments come amid concerns from some motorists and transport operators, who say government should first address poor road conditions and infrastructure gaps, including faulty traffic lights, inadequate road markings and missing speed-limit signs.
The Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service rolled out TraffiTech-GH on November 1. The camera-based system is intended to detect traffic violations, with speeding as the initial focus.
Responding to calls to fix roads before introducing the system, President Mahama said road conditions in other countries were not perfect either, yet authorities still used speed cameras.
“I hear they say we should fix the roads before we introduce TraffiTech. It does not work like that. I mean, the roads are not perfect in the UK, yet they have speed cameras,” he said.
The president said the system is initially focused on speeding, while other offences, including running red lights and wrong-way parking, may be incorporated later.
“TraffiTech has begun with checking speeding. They have not yet added the other components such as jumping red lights, wrong-way parking and others,” he said.
TraffiTech-GH uses cameras to capture traffic violations and supports the issuing of electronic notices to vehicle owners.
