Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah has indicated that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol which allows citizens of member states to use cars registered in their home countries in other West African states for a specific period, is being abused, especially in Ghana.

According to him, some nationals of Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Niger have been found abusing that protocol, however, this government will ensure that an end is brought to such violations.

Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM in connection with robbery cases in the region, he said: “We all know that though robberies may happen during the day, they mostly occur at night. For this reason, we are improving on the lighting system in the region to help minimise such cases.

He added: “We are also dealing with the use of unlicensed motorcycles. There are a lot of people using unlicensed motorbikes in the region and most of these bikes are used in robbing unsuspecting people and so the police have improved on their surveillance especially on the highways to deal with such miscreants.

“Another problem is that we have some of our brothers from other ECOWAS countries like Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d’Ivoire who are abusing the ECOWAS protocol that allows them to use vehicles registered in their countries in Ghana over a period.

“These people wait until just a few days to the deadline only to drive back to their countries for a few days and return to begin the entire period again. That is an abuse of that protocol and so we are looking at this issue because of the effects they have on the fight against crime in the country.”

Source:classfmonline.com