Commercial drivers plying Ghana’s trade corridors, especially the Tema-Ouagadougou route, are frequently stopped by police, immigration and customs officers to pay bribes.These stops cause delays and constitute an illegal tax on transport along the route. Such practices are a barrier to the freedom of movement as guaranteed under the ECOWAS protocol on the free movement of persons and under Article 21 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.Drivers stopped by law enforcement find themselves in a vulnerable position as officers generally have the power to detain them or impound their vehicles and their goods.However, drivers must realize that they are not completely powerless. Victims of road corruption can and should file complaints against the offending officers. Corruption and extortion by public officers are criminal offences under Sections 239 and 247 respectively of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (ACT 29). In addition, corruption is a violation of the code of conduct of the Ghana Police Service (GIS), the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS). Therefore, victims can access internal complaint and discipline mechanisms within each of those three services. Unfortunately, drivers are often reluctant and intimidated to make use of complaint mechanisms because they are not familiar with the process. Our hope is that once drivers know how the process works they will feel empowered to make complaints.In order to file a complaint, drivers should take note of the following things:

• The officer’s uniform as this will indicate which service the officer works for.
• The name and badge number of the officer. Officers must visibly display their name and badge number while they are on duty and failure to do so is a disciplinary offence.
• The time and place of the incident.
• The number of stars on the officer’s shoulders as this will help identify the officer’s rank.
• The value of the bribe paid.

If the officer is a police officer, the complainant can call the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Unit (PIPS) at Police Headquarters at 021- 776435 to file a complaint. Drivers may call in anonymous complaints. If the complaint is not anonymous, the complainant will then be asked to the PIPS office for an interview about the incident. PIPS officers will investigate, interview witnesses and the officer involved, and then either recommend that that the officer be sanctioned or find that the complaint is unfounded. If sanctions are recommended, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) will order a service inquiry which is like a trial for the officer. The complainant will have to give testimony at the trial. The law requires that the trial be completed within two weeks.The challenge with the PIPS process is that the complainant must go to the Police Headquarters twice, once for the interview and once for the trial. This may be impractical for those living outside of Accra. The PIPS office is pushing to make the process more accessible. If the complainant is outside of Accra, PIPS officers will travel to interview the complainant. In addition, PIPS is advocating that a second office be established in Kumasi which will be more accessible for people in the Northern part of the country. We have also recommended that PIPS officers be stationed at police stations around the country.For incidents involving an immigration officer, drivers can complain directly to the officer in charge where the incident happened or they can call the GIS’s new Client Service Unit at 028-955-6000 or 029-993-3505. Drivers can also file a complaint on the GIS website by sending an email to info@ghanaimmigration.org. Once complaints are received the officer in charge is directed to conduct an investigation. If he recommends sanctions he will forward his findings to a disciplinary committee which will establish a trial panel to try the officer.This system is more geographically accessible as the investigation and the trial can both be held in the region where the incident occurred. That means that the complainant does not have to travel to headquarters in Accra. However, decentralization is not all good. In our meetings with the Client Service Unit they called for greater formalization of the process and better record keeping at Headquarters so they can monitor what complaints are coming in and how they are resolved. They also called for a 24 hour hotline so that complainants can receive assistance at all times. The head of the Client Service Unit is even advocating that the results of the trials be public and posted on the GIS website.This would serve two functions: 1) deter misconduct by other officers and 2) inform the public that discipline is happening.Finally, the last main actor in transport corruption is CEPS and to file complaints against a CEPS officer you would contact the Client Service Unit at 021-668319. The call can be anonymous. The Unit will record the complaint and contact the officers in charge where the incident happened who will speak to the officer involved. If the matter can be resolved, the Unit will contact the complainant with the results. If the matter is very serious, for example if it involves a large sum of money or repeat offences, it can be referred to the Commissioner who will then refer the matter to the Internal Affairs Bureau. The Internal Affairs Bureau will conduct a full investigation and if necessary the Commissioner will establish a committee of inquiry to consider the evidence.It is important to note that just because a complainant does not want to go through the whole process does not mean they should not call in a complaint. The caller can even call anonymously and this way if the service keeps receiving complaints about corruption in a certain area they can follow up with their own undercover investigation. This allows the service to know where the problem areas are and focus their efforts there. The worst thing that drivers can do is to keep ignoring this problem altogether. Things will never change if drivers just keep paying the bribes and do not take a stand. Our partners at the Consumer’s Association of Ghana and the Ghana Export Promotion Council have emphasized that the people who suffer as a result of corruption are consumers and traders. Therefore, we all have an interest in fighting corruption. Reporting is the way drivers can be heard and can play a role in combating this cancer that has been eating away at our society for years.Source: Legal Resources Centre Accra