Emmanuel Bombande addressing the delegates
Emmanuel Bombande, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has disclosed that ECOWAS Brown Cards issued by Ghanaian insurance companies are not accepted in some francophone countries when produced as evidence of motor vehicle third party insurance cover.
The situation, he said, has forced a large number of haulage vehicle drivers and owners to buy insurance from other countries instead of Ghana to avoid harassment and inconvenience.
Mr Bombande, who made the disclosure at the ongoing 33rd Ordinary Session of the Council of Bureaux of ECOWAS Brown Card Scheme in Accra, said some motorists are harassed for possessing ECOWAS Brown Cards issued in Ghana.
He said the actions of the authorities in some of the francophone countries were against the tenets of the protocol and gives cause for worry.
Mr Bombande therefore called on the Council of Bureaux of the ECOWAS Brown Card to address the issue which is affecting Ghanaian motorists badly.
Chairman of the Council of Bureaux, Leopold Keita, explained that in line with the provisions of Protocol A/P1/5/82, the ECOWAS Brown Card Scheme ensures prompt and fair compensation to victims for losses they incur from international road traffic accidents.
“Therefore, on the one hand it serves as a means of facilitating free movement of persons, goods and services between member states, and on the other hand, as the responsive par excellence insurance cover against liabilities arising from international accidents within our West African sub-region,” he said.
Representatives from member countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo are in Ghana for the Ordinary Session which is slated from 11th – 13th October.
By Cephas Larbi