Ghana’s National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has announced that its new digital Traffictech enforcement system will initially operate only on roads where speed limits are clearly displayed, in a move intended to ensure fairness for motorists. The Authority says drivers should not be penalised for the absence of road signs and other basic infrastructure that it is the responsibility of the state to provide.Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, November 4th, during a discussion on Ghana’s road safety blueprint, the Director-General of the NRSA, Abraham Amaliba, said the country could not use modern digital policing on outdated and poorly maintained road infrastructure. He explained that cameras would therefore be deployed only on routes where motorists had been properly informed of the applicable speed limit through visible signage.
Mr Amaliba cited Boundary Road towards Mahama Road in Accra as an example, where a 50 kilometres per hour limit is clearly indicated and enforcement will apply. Roads without the required signs will be excluded from the initial phase until the necessary infrastructure is put in place, he said, stressing that it would be unjust to punish road users for shortcomings on the part of the authorities.
He disclosed that the decision was agreed at a meeting on Tuesday, November 3rd, involving the Ministers for the Interior, Local Government and Transport, the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), the NRSA and transport operators. Mr Amaliba said the restriction was not a new arrangement, as cameras had already been deployed only in areas with marked speed limits, but acknowledged that this had not been adequately communicated to the public. He added that a dedicated Traffictech committee had met regularly ahead of the rollout to undertake the preparatory work.
