Election 2024: NRSA engages political parties on road safety as campaigns intensify

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) says it has begun discussions with political parties to improve road safety management as the 2024 election campaign season heats up.

This initiative follows a recent tragic accident involving President Akufo-Addo’s convoy, resulting in one fatality, and highlights the increasing concern over road traffic accidents involving high-profile personalities especially during political campaigns.

Public Relations Officer at the National Road Safety Authority Pearl Adusu Sateckla stressed the necessity of enhanced coordination and safety measures during campaign activities to prevent such avoidable carnages.

“That is why we are engaging all political players and their sympathizers, and everybody involved in this year’s electioneering campaign. We will meet them, and they sign a political road safety code of conduct and then we train a road safety officer they will appoint so that they will coordinate all their campaign activities so as not to record fatal crashes on our roads”, Adusu disclosed on political affairs show Midweek Matters on Asaase 98.5 MHz in Kumasi.

“We have intensified our education campaigns in collaboration with the police and the DVLA. We have done outreaches in churches and terminals. It is left with the drivers to stop being indiscipline and adhere to the awareness creation”, she added.

For his part security analyst Emmanuel Kotin highlighted the excessive expenses incurred by transporting advance convoys from Accra to other regions while the president travels by air.

He stressed the need to resource regional centers with executive vehicles, which would be utilized when the president travels to those regions. This, he suggested, would significantly cut down on the costs borne by taxpayers.

“The current practice of picking advance convoys from Accra to Kumasi while the president flies is too expensive. We should equip our regional centers with executive vehicles so that these can be used when the president visits. This approach will be more economical and reduce unnecessary expenses.”

“The convoys are too long. We need to look at the cost to the taxpayer and limit the numbers. A more streamlined approach would not only be more cost-effective but also more efficient”, he added.

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH