The Interior Ministry has rolled out a covert security strategy involving armoured buses camouflaged as public transport vehicles, including VIP, STC and OA livery, in a bid to clamp down on highway robbery across the country.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak made the disclosure on Saturday, May 23, 2026, at a town hall meeting in Damongo in the Savannah Region. He explained that the specially equipped vehicles are being rotated under different commercial identities to avoid detection by criminals.
“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,” he said.
“Today we brand them as STC, the next day we brand them as VIP, another day we brand them as OA, just to make sure that we get the perpetrators,” he added.
According to him, the strategy has already contributed to several arrests of suspected highway robbers, carried out through coordinated operations involving the Inspector General of Police and his team. He added that the initiative forms part of broader measures aimed at strengthening safety on major highways and protecting travellers.
Highway robbery continues to be a persistent security challenge in Ghana, particularly along remote routes and during night travel.
The engagement, held under the “Resetting Ghana” town hall series, also featured Roads and Highways Minister Governs Kwame Agbodza, who linked deteriorating road conditions in some areas to rising incidents of highway attacks.
He also highlighted setbacks affecting projects under the government’s Big Push infrastructure programme, noting that some contractors on the Wa to Wiawso corridor, which runs through parts of the Savannah Region, were among the poorest performing.
Mr Agbodza urged contractors who have abandoned project sites to return and complete the work without further delay.
The forum formed part of President Mahama’s nationwide “Resetting Ghana” tour, designed to gather public input on government policies and development priorities.
During the meeting, the Savannah Regional House of Chiefs, through its Registrar S. A. Issah, presented a list of concerns on behalf of the Yagbonwura, Bii Kunuto Jewu Soale I. These included water shortages in Damongo, deteriorating road infrastructure, delays in the regional hospital project, the creation of additional districts, the establishment of a university, and recruitment of Gonja language teachers.
President Mahama responded that preparatory work on the Damongo water project had been completed and the initiative had now advanced to the procurement stage. He said the project will abstract water from Yapei to supply communities such as Busunya, Damongo, Larabanga and nearby settlements.
He also confirmed plans to establish a science and technology university in the Savannah Region, noting that China had already provided a US$30 million grant for the project. An additional US$100 million funding request has been submitted to the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.
On health infrastructure, the President announced that the region will benefit from a 300-bed referral hospital equipped with MRI, CT scan and X-ray facilities.
