A communications team member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwasi Kwarteng, has defended Ghana’s new automated traffic enforcement system, saying the lives it could save should matter more than its GH₵77 million cost.
He said excessive speed had already left people seriously injured or dead, and argued that even a small reduction in road crashes would justify the investment.
“If GH₵77 million can reduce road accidents by even one per cent, then the investment is worthwhile,” Mr Kwarteng said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on Saturday, November 7.
His comments came as debate continues over the cost of TraffiTech-GH, the fairness of its enforcement methods and the agreement to share revenue from fines. The system became fully operational on November 1, 2026.
Mr Kwarteng said his grandmother had been hit by a speeding car and had needed crutches for the past 24 years. He also said one of his closest friends had been left crippled after a road traffic accident.
How TraffiTech-GH works
TraffiTech-GH is operated by the Ghana Police Service through its Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD). It uses radar, high-resolution cameras, sensors and other digital equipment to identify offences, beginning with speeding and later including running red lights.
Police officers review the images before an Electronic Notice of Violation, accompanied by video evidence, is sent to the vehicle owner by SMS. Motorists are given 14 days either to pay the fine or challenge the notice.
Full enforcement was initially due to begin on October 1 but was postponed to November 1 to allow further public education. On its first day, police recorded thousands of speeding offences, including drivers travelling above 130km/h on roads with a 50km/h limit.
The MTTD says speeding is the leading cause of deaths on Ghana’s roads. ACP Alexander Kwaku Obeng, its Director of Education, Research and Training, said it was responsible for 60 to 62 per cent of serious injuries and fatalities resulting from crashes.
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has separately said speeding and inattentive driving account for about 58 to 59 per cent of road deaths nationwide.
President John Dramani Mahama has reported 2,151 road deaths in 2025, including 474 pedestrians. Other official figures record 2,949 deaths that year, the highest total in 35 years. The NRSA said 1,009 people died in crashes during the first four months of 2026.
Cost and revenue-sharing concerns
The Ministry of Finance’s 2024 Annual Report on Public-Private Partnership Projects estimates the TraffiTech-GH investment at GH₵77.73 million over an 11-year contract.
The agreement was signed in December 2022 under a Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Maintain and Transfer (DBFOMT) arrangement running until December 2033. The public partners are the Ministry of the Interior and the Ghana Police Service, while Nationwide Traffic Management and Enforcement Limited (NTMEL) is the private partner.
Fine revenue is divided 60 per cent to the Government of Ghana and 40 per cent to NTMEL. Policy analyst Bright Simons has warned that linking a private company’s income to traffic fines could create incentives that affect fair enforcement. Others have called for the government’s share to be directed to the Ghana Road Fund for road repairs and the treatment of dangerous locations.
Police say early results from the pilot phase are encouraging. In September 2026, following intensified public education and more than 200,000 caution notices, crashes dropped by 9.4 per cent compared with September 2025. Injuries fell by 15.02 per cent and fatalities by 7.82 per cent.
Mr Kwarteng said those reductions demonstrated why the system should be judged by the lives it could protect.
