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

Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak disclosed that the government has deployed armoured buses disguised as commercial vehicles to track and arrest highway robbers operating on major roads across the country. Speaking at a town hall meeting in Damongo in the Savannah Region on Saturday, May 23, 2026, the Minister said, "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."

The operation has already led to the arrest of several suspected highway robbers. Governs Kwame Agbodza 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 as among the lowest performing and urged contractors who had abandoned sites to return to work.

President Mahama responded to several concerns presented by the Savannah Regional House of Chiefs. He said preparatory work for the Damongo water project had been completed and that the project 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. The Savannah Region would receive a 300-bed regional referral hospital equipped with MRI, CT scan, and X-ray facilities.