Accounting for toll revenue
A month ago, a pressure group, The National Forum (TNF), published a report following its investigations into the measures aimed at accounting for the revenue generated from the tolls collected on various roads and bridges across the country.
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According to their report, there are essentially no mechanisms or safeguards to prevent the cashiers at the toll booths from diverting portions of the revenue into their private pockets at the end of each day.
The group is, therefore, calling on the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Road Fund and the Ministry of Roads and Highways, to ensure proper accountability in order to realise the full revenue-generating potential of our roads, recover costs incurred in construction and invest into more road infrastructure where needed.
Observations and realities
As long as we continue to operate this cash-and-carry tolling system on our roads, nothing stops the cashiers from unilaterally pocketing part of the revenue accrued on their respective shifts.
• The ticketing system is neither structured nor networked centrally; they differ from booth to booth and from day to day, so how do we know that what we receive after paying isn’t just a piece of paper?
My guess is that they use the machine-printed one when there is electricity available, switching to coarse brown stamped paper reel when there is no power, but I stand to be corrected.
• The cashiers routinely grant waivers and exemptions to their friends and acquaintances whenever they feel like doing so. I know this for a fact because I have enjoyed these exemptions on more than one occasion, from a friend who lived in my area, and also from another whom I once ferried across the motorway in my car after his shift.
• Due to unavailability of small change, drivers get short-changed some of the time while the cashiers also get duped some of the time.
This often leads to long queues and traffic jams during the rush hours. The Kasoa booths are probably the worst culprits in this category.
• There is the constant risk of counterfeit notes being injected into the system since there is neither the time nor the facilities available to subject the currency notes paid to the necessary scrutiny in those 3-4 seconds that drivers spend at the cashier’s window.
• There is the additional security dimension of making the toll booths attractive to armed gangs as a result of the large cash volumes accumulated in the course of the day.
This risk is now being mitigated by the regular evacuation of cash by bank bullion vans but how economical is this?
• The safety of the booths as well as the staff who man them have always been in doubt. On several occasions, out-of-control trucks have run into the structures, destroying property and injuring innocent cashiers.
In some cases, the booths are mere wooden structures, like the ones on the Adenta-Dodowa road as well as the ones near the Peduase Lodge.
I still struggle to understand why countless hawkers of all ages are allowed to ply their trade around the toll booths day and night, often taking big risks just to make a sale.
• The supposed e-toll lanes do not work, especially at the Accra end of the Tema motorway. The cost of the pass is prohibitive and the incentive to buy it isn’t there as the carriers still have to join a long queue anyway, eliminating the incentive to make the upfront pre-payment.
• The power supply issues gripping the entire country have not spared these toll booths. It is not uncommon to see some of them operating with lanterns and rechargeable lamps when there is no electricity. Forget system-issued tickets in such cases, leaving room for stealing and under-reporting.
• In spite of several efforts, illegal entryways and exits continue to spring up on the Tema motorway as well as several other tolled roads. Some toll booths are also located in close proximity to heavily-populated suburbs, like those at Amasaman. I wonder if residents in such areas pay up every time they need to run an errand into town.
• The policy on exemptions is often misapplied with broad discretion. We do know that Police, military and diplomatic vehicles are exempt.
I have witnessed cashiers arguing with Immigration, Fire Service drivers and private ambulances whilst uniformed police and military officers driving their personal, unmarked vehicles have also attempted to drive through without paying up.
A friend of mine regularly gets through just by whispering “BNI” or “National Security” with a stern face, a strategy that seems to work most of the time, especially outside Accra. The scope of discretion is just too broad in its current form.
To be continued...