Kyebi MTTD Conveys Dead Bodies in Taxis, No Car for 3 Years

Officials of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service at Kyebi in the East Akyem Municipality of the Eastern Region,  consistently convey accident victims and dead bodies in taxis.

According to police sources in the municipality, the MTTD whose jurisdiction stretches from Kyebi through Asiakwa, Bunso, Osino, Anyinam, Suhum and Nsawam, has been without a single police vehicle for the past three years, making the work of police personnel in the municipality cumbersome.

Police personnel stationed in the municipality are very worried about their inability to attend to cases on time due to lack of working tools.

When Citi News visited the police station, there was no vehicle at the station. Police personnel who were on duty also confirmed that they had no car at the station.

A senior officer who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity indicated that residents had labelled them incompetent due to the situation.

“I have been at this station for close to 4 years, when I came here initially there was no moving vehicle, but we had a rickety vehicle which the station raised some money to repair, but a few months later it broke down and for the past 3 years we have been without a vehicle to help carry out our mandate”.

“Our area of operations is very wide and looking at the kind of carnage that occurs on the Bunso to Nsawam stretch daily, working without a vehicle becomes very difficult. We are not able to discharge our duties effectively because we do not have a vehicle, there have been instances where we have been hooted at, and others have also rained insults on us because we got to accident locations late and in taxis”.

He added that “we sometimes have to waste time pleading with taxi drivers to drive us to accident locations…In other instances, we beg private vehicles to help us convey the bodies if the taxi drivers refuse to go… this is embarrassing for us. Now they call us incompetent because we are always late when we are needed most, and my men and I are worried about it. We have men who are committed to working effectively and efficiently but the logistics we need to facilitate our work are not available.”

Some taxi drivers who spoke to Citi News have vowed not to use their vehicles to convey dead bodies again.

According to them, washing blood stains on their car seats becomes a problem, and passengers who sometimes see them conveying the dead bodies refuse to engage their services.

Though the Regional Police Command last month took delivery of four brand new Toyota Hilux cars to aid the command on patrol duties, they are not enough to augment the activities of the Command.