Dear Inspector-General of Police,
I write this open letter as a concerned road user and not as someone seeking to tell the Ghana Police Service how to do its work.
I fully appreciate the importance of police visibility and security checks on our roads, particularly on major highways where the safety of travellers must remain a priority.
However, I believe there is an opportunity to make these routine checks more efficient, less stressful and more people-centred.
A recent journey to and from Cape Coast brought this concern sharply to my attention. Along the major highway, I encountered several police checkpoints—what appeared to be more than six to ten at different points along the journey.
While I understand the security reasons for these installations, the cumulative effect on travellers can be frustrating, particularly for people making long-distance journeys.
At some of these checkpoints, vehicles are slowed considerably, creating long queues and adding unnecessary delays to journeys. In some instances, a police officer simply shines a torchlight into the vehicle or briefly waves at the driver to continue. At other points, vehicles appear to be subjected to a slow-moving process that contributes significantly to the congestion.
The question I respectfully wish to raise is: Could there be another way of achieving the same security objective without putting unnecessary pressure on motorists and passengers?
Perhaps technology, better positioning of checkpoints, targeted checks, improved traffic management or a more streamlined system could help. I leave the technical solutions to the professionals within the Police Service. My concern is simply that whatever system is adopted should also consider the experience of the ordinary traveller.
There is also a practical question worth considering. Would individuals planning criminal activities such as armed robbery deliberately join a long queue of vehicles knowing that there is visible police presence along the route?
I appreciate that policing requires vigilance and that criminals can operate in unpredictable ways. However, it may be worth examining whether the current routine approach to checking every vehicle at multiple points is always the most effective use of police resources.
The issue is not about removing police presence from our highways. On the contrary, visible and effective policing is important for public confidence and road safety. The issue is about finding a balance between security and the need for motorists to move efficiently and safely.
For long-distance drivers especially, repeated stops, delays and congestion can make an already tiring journey even more stressful. Professional drivers who travel these routes regularly, families travelling with children, elderly passengers and people travelling for urgent reasons all have to contend with these delays.
I therefore respectfully appeal to you, IGP, to take a fresh look at the system of police checkpoints on major highways across the country—not only the Accra-Cape Coast road.
Could the Ghana Police Service explore ways of making these checks faster, more targeted, better coordinated and more courteous to travellers, while still maintaining the necessary level of security?
Policing should ultimately be about protecting people, and how people experience that protection matters. A police officer who keeps the roads safe while also helping traffic to move efficiently is serving the public in a way that motorists can appreciate.
This is not an attack on the Ghana Police Service. It is a plea for better, more people-centred policing.
Our highways should be secure, but they should also be navigable without unnecessary frustration. We can have security and efficiency. We can have police visibility without turning every journey into a series of prolonged stops.
I respectfully urge the IGP and the leadership of the Ghana Police Service to consider this concern and explore practical ways of making highway checks more traveller-friendly.
Security is important. But so is the human experience of those we are securing.
Yours faithfully,
DELASSIE MABEL AWUKU
A Concerned Road User
