By Isaac Newton Tetteh
Accra, Oct 31, GNA – Over 66.7 per cent of drivers both commercial and private attempt to bribe personnel of the Ghana Police Service to avoid arrest, the Young African for Opportunity (YAFO) has revealed.
Mr Nathaniel Dwamena, YAFO Programmes Manager, who made the disclosure stated that some drivers with expired Insurance policy stickers always attempt to bribe police, a situation he described as unfortunate.
He said there were situations where some drivers talked their way out and some pleaded with the Police to get their insurance updated saying such instances constituted some 8.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.
Mr Dwamena made the disclosure during a stakeholders’ engagement with some key players in the insurance and transport sector in Accra.
He said insurance served as an incentive to encourage safe driving behavior saying many people got involved in road carnage and were neglected due to non-insurance or wrong insurance policies.
Mr Dwamena explained that per available records from a research exercise conducted by YAFO, Ghana’s vehicular insurance policies were not too good, stressing that insurance brokers including the government must ensure that the right policies were initiated to safeguard lives and property, especially on the roads.
Mr Richard Nii Amarh a Private Legal Practitioner said, insurance and its related issues must be given the needed attention saying insurance companies must intensify public education efforts to ensure that the public understood the policies to subscribe to preferred packages.
Mr. Amarh cited bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with insurance claims and other related issues that needed to be reviewed to ensure that passengers were well insured, most especially with the third-party insurance packages.
The Young African for Opportunity stakeholders’ engagement brought together key players including security experts, legal practitioners, insurance brokers, and drivers among other personalities.
GNA