IMANI’s Vice President, Bright Simons, has questioned Ghana’s preparedness for the rollout of Traffitech-GH, arguing that automated traffic enforcement risks becoming ineffective and unfair without clear road infrastructure, regulatory rules and accountability mechanisms.

In an analysis following the system’s activation on November 1, Mr Simons raised concerns about unclear speed limits, inadequate signage, disorganised roads and the financial arrangements underpinning the public-private partnership.

His assessment comes as five transport unions prepare to strike on November 4 over concerns that operators could face camera fines while struggling with conditions on the roads.

“Accra’s road chaos must continue to be treated as a pure problem to be solved. No one must be allowed to turn it into a cash cow.”
IMANI’s Vice President, Bright Simons

Mr Simons maintained that reducing road crashes was a necessary public safety objective but argued that technology alone could not resolve longstanding weaknesses in Ghana’s road environment.

He recalled raising concerns when the proposal to use cameras to automate traffic fines first emerged, asking whether the Police could transcend what he described as “katanomics”. He uses the term to describe a pattern in which promising ideas are undermined by poor implementation and institutional shortcomings.

According to him, manual traffic enforcement often requires officers to exercise judgement because strict rules must be applied within difficult physical conditions. Automating penalties without addressing those conditions, he argued, could punish motorists for disorder they did not create.

Speed limits and road signs under scrutiny

Mr Simons contrasted the modern enforcement technology with the state of the roads, describing the approach as a way of using a modern system to penalise people for disorder arising from an older infrastructure problem.

The IMANI vice president acknowledged the urgency of addressing road fatalities, pointing to 2,949 deaths from road crashes in 2025, the highest figure in 35 years, according to the analysis.

He questioned the practical application of the Police FAQ’s speed limits, which list 50 kilometres per hour in built-up areas, 90 on highways, 100 on motorways and 30 within specified places such as schools, health facilities, markets, places of worship and areas where human activity predominates.

Mr Simons asked how motorists would identify the boundaries of areas where human activity was predominant, particularly in cities such as Accra and Kumasi.

The FAQ indicates that signs would be placed at the beginning of enforcement corridors and at selected points along them.

However, Mr Simons highlighted a further provision requiring licensed drivers to know the limits whether signs were posted. He also contended that the promised signs were absent at the time of launch.

Transport unions raise concerns over enforcement

The rollout has also drawn objections from transport operators. Five Ghanaian transport unions announced a strike for November 4, shortly after Traffitech-GH went live on November 1.

The unions warned: “We cannot operate in bus stops occupied by traders and still be fined by cameras.”

The concern, in his account, illustrates the tension between automated enforcement and the conditions in which commercial drivers operate. Where bus stops are occupied by traders and road arrangements are disorderly, operators may face difficulty complying with rules while also being exposed to penalties.

Financial arrangements and public accountability

Beyond infrastructure and enforcement rules, Mr Simons questioned the financial incentives built into the public-private partnership.

He warned that revenue-sharing arrangements could create tension between the private operator’s commercial interests and the public objective of reducing traffic violations.

He argued that the programme’s success should be measured by safer roads and fewer crashes, rather than the revenue generated through fines.

The analysis also calls for attention to dangerous intercity corridors, vulnerable road users and motorcycle-related fatalities. These priorities, Mr Simons suggested, should inform road safety interventions instead of allowing camera enforcement to dominate the response.

IMANI calls for evidence-led road safety measures

Mr Simons maintained that infrastructure improvements must accompany automated enforcement.

He also questioned the assumption that implementation problems could simply be corrected after launch, arguing that Ghana’s record of initiatives introduced before adequate preparation offered reason for caution.

In his view, the expectation that institutions would learn and improve later often failed to produce lasting corrections.

The analysis concludes that technology should support, rather than replace, the physical infrastructure and institutional reforms required for legitimate traffic enforcement.

For Traffitech-GH to advance road safety, its implementation must be grounded in evidence, fairness, transparency and measurable public safety outcomes. The dispute places enforcement fairness alongside road safety and public accountability mechanisms.