Government deploys armoured buses disguised as VIP, STC and OA coaches to fight highway robberies

The government has deployed armoured buses disguised as commercial vehicles to track and arrest highway robbers operating on major roads across the country, Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak has disclosed.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Damongo in the Savannah Region on Saturday, May 23, 2026, the Minister said the buses are regularly rebranded to avoid detection.

“We have acquired armoured buses, and these armoured buses have been doing a wonderful thing on most of our long stretch roads because we keep branding them differently.

Today we brand them as STC, the next day as VIP, another day as OA, just to make sure that we get the perpetrators,” he said.

He added that the operation had already led to the arrest of several suspected highway robbers, crediting the Inspector General of Police and his team for the results.

Roads and Highways Minister, Governs Kwame Agbodza, who also addressed the gathering, drew a direct link between poor road conditions and highway robbery, arguing that deteriorating roads create conditions that criminals exploit.

He also flagged delays in some road projects under the government’s Big Push programme, singling out contractors on the Wa to Wiawso corridor — which passes through parts of the Savannah Region — as among the lowest performing. He urged contractors who had abandoned sites to return to work.

The town hall, dubbed “Resetting Ghana,” also gave the Savannah Regional House of Chiefs the opportunity to present concerns on behalf of the Yagbonwura, Bii Kunuto Jewu Soale I.

These included water supply problems in Damongo, poor road conditions, a delayed regional hospital project, and calls for more districts, a university, and the recruitment of Gonja language teachers.

President Mahama, who is on a nationwide “Resetting Ghana” tour, responded to several of the concerns.

He said preparatory work for the Damongo water project had been completed and that the project which will draw water from Yapei to supply Busunya, Damongo, Larabanga and surrounding communities had entered the procurement stage.

He also announced plans for a science and technology university in the region, saying China had provided a US$30 million grant toward the project, with an additional US$100 million funding request submitted to the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.

On healthcare, the President said the Savannah Region would receive a 300-bed regional referral hospital equipped with MRI, CT scan, and X-ray facilities.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)