The Attorney General’s Office has issued a directive to the Ghana Police Service to refrain from impounding and prohibiting the use of motor vehicles deemed to have violated minor road traffic regulations.
The directive, signed by the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, dated February 9, 2024, was addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr George Akufo-Dampare.
The Attorney-General indicated in the directive that the “Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has received incessant complaints from members of the public including lawyers and senior public officials about the tendency of officers of the Ghana Police Service to impound or prohibit the use of motor vehicles deemed to have violated provisions of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (L.I. 2180)”
“The provisions of L.I. 2180 under which police officers regularly exercise the discretion to impound vehicles, relate to alleged violations of the “Rules of the road” contained in Regulation 106, and other provisions pertaining to crossing the red light or driving a vehicle without a valid insurance certificate. A reason often advanced by police officers for impounding a vehicle is the necessity to “use the vehicle as an exhibit” in court proceedings,” he explained.
He said due to the wrongful exercise by some police officers to impound vehicles, the office of the Attorney-General has already received a number of suits.
“An unreasonable exercise of discretion or failure to adhere to the advice herein has the tendency to result in unnecessary suits against the government, occasioning needless expense and potentially avoidable judgement debts. The Office of the Attorney-General is already inundated with many suits arising from wrongful exercise of discretion and negligence by police officers,” Mr Dame explained.
In addition, he said, “The notion that a vehicle must be ‘used as an exhibit’ in court proceedings is both indefensible and illogical.”
Attached is the Attorney-General’s directive to the police
