Despite the efforts being made by the Mohammed Alhassan led administration to carve a new image for the Police Service, it appears some of the personnel in his outfit are adamant and continue to indulge in negative practices.
After the recent judicial scandal that threw Ghanaians into hysteria, where 36 superior court judges were caught, allegedly taking bribes to pervert the cause of justice, one would have thought that other state institutions, including the Police Service have learnt useful lessons, but alas they are still indulging in the same practice with glee.
Available information indicates that the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) are busily extorting monies from motorists.
According to reports and Traffic Directorate (MTTD), during the late hours surreptitiously move out and extort monies from motorists in the name of enforcing traffic regulations.
One such incident happened last week Thursday, October 22, 2015, at about 10:30pm at the Golf House/Shiashie bus stop in Accra, where some night taxicab drivers had parked to reinvigorate themselves as a result of the tediousness of the day.
Whilst there, according to the drivers, who reported the incident to The Chronicle, a white Land cruiser (the old type) pulled over at the bust stop. They said it harbored five officers including an inspector, who sat in the front seat. These officers, they narrated, came down from the vehicle and announced to them that they had been arrested for unauthorized parking.
Continuing, the drivers added that they were then moved to the Airport Police Station, their car keys taken from them and they were abandoned in the cold, as the above mentioned officers left for their night expedition.
Around midnight, they said the MTTD officers, including the inspector, returned with another bunch of alleged traffic offenders. After an hour or two, they told The Chronicle they were directed one after the other to see one female Inspector – who they described as short and fair in complexion – a directive they complied with, as they were eager to have their cars released to them.
Alleged Extortions
The female Inspector, the drivers alleged, demand that they pay GH¢50 each before their cabs would be released – which amount most of them paid, with a few paying GH¢30.
According to them, because they were eager to get their cars released to them – they paid the monies even though they acknowledged that it was an affront to the law.
However, the station officer, Airport MTTD, C/Insp Abraham Nuetey told The Chronicle in an interview yesterday that he wasn’t aware of any such happenings or alleged extortions by his officers, admitting though that he could neither say what they (Drivers) were alleging was factual nor lies.
That notwithstanding, he pledged to initiate internal investigations to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the alleged extortions stressing that he won’t sit idle for some few officers to drag the name of the MTTD into disrepute.
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