Some police officers using the Gota phones at the closing ceremony
THE NATIONAL Insurance Commission (NIC) has carried out a nationwide series of training of trainers (ToT) workshops for personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.
The workshop is part of a campaign to clamp down on vehicles with fake and invalid insurance policy stickers plying roads with the aim of reducing the high rate of vehicle-related deaths and injuries in the country.
According to reports, the rate of deaths and injuries have assumed an alarming rate with over 1,034 deaths recorded in the first four months of 2021.
Addressing some MTTD personnel at the end of the training, the Commissioner of NIC, Dr. Justice Ofori, intimated that there were many vehicles plying Ghana’s roads without any form of motor insurance, while some others which appeared to be covered had fake or invalid policy stickers.
It is against this backdrop that the commission donated an additional consignment of 400 Gota phones to the MTTD, bringing the total number of Gota phones donated to the department to 900.
The phones are meant to be used to check the validity of motor insurance stickers on vehicles with the view to protecting lives and property.
“Some vehicle owners and their drivers are carrying with them fake insurance policies in violation of the law. While some may be ignorant of the modus operandi of some miscreants in society perpetrating this phenomenon, some others consciously purchase these fake insurance policies from some unscrupulous persons just because they are cheaper”, Dr. Ofori bemoaned.
This trend, he indicated, put the lives of motorists, passengers, and pedestrians at risk especially when there was no compensation for victims of accidents involving vehicles with fake or uninsured insurances.
He therefore admonished motorists and vehicle owners to purchase insurance policies from insurance companies licensed by the NIC or its agents, and expect an instant text messages upon payment of their premiums.
Dr. Ofori also announced that passengers using commercial vehicles could dial *920*57# on their mobile phones to check the validity of vehicles they intend boarding, in their own interest, since there was no compensation for any passenger or road user in the event of any accident involving uninsured vehicles.
Director-General of the Police MTTD, Commissioner of Police (COP), Adu Anim, commended the NIC for its continuous support to the national cause.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio