The Bureau of Public Safety has called on the Police Council to halt an announced measure to arm personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.

According to the group the government must first equip personnel of MTTD “with the requisite soft skills” before arming them.

“The Bureau appreciates the need to take immediate, definite and bold steps to ensure the safety of police personnel in the wake of recent deaths of officers in the line of duty.

“However, providing arms and ammunition to all MTTD personnel without first equipping them with the requisite soft skills and also educating or informing citizens about police expectations and the potential repercussions that may accrue from ignoring them will only aggravate an already conflictive interaction between police and citizens,” the statement signed by the group’s Executive Director, Nana Yaw Akwada said in part. 

Sunday’s statement follows a directive from the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery to the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) James Oppong Boanuh to arm all police officers on traffic duty.

This came after the murder of five police officers in the last 30 days in the line of duty.

Below is the statement