Cote d'Ivoire's government has suspended all driving test instructors as part of an ongoing "clean-up" of the sector.

The move comes following recent road accidents that left may people dead.

The BBC reports Transport Minister Amadou Koné to say police officers will oversee the driving tests for a period of three months from next week.

"This is not an incrimination of the license as such but there are a great number of matters on which we have decided to be uncompromising," said the minister, who attributed the latest accidents to human error and not bad roads.

Around 1,400 people die in road crashes every year in Cote d'Ivoire. This month alone, nearly 40 people have already lost their lives, including 14 who died on April 5 in two accidents on the highway linking Abidjan to the north of the country.

Cote d'Ivoire and other African countries are struggling to tackle corruption and fraud among traffic authorities, who often take bribes to allow unworthy vehicles to operate or drivers to disregard traffic rules.

Driving test instructors are also accused of often taking bribes in order to allow people to pass the critical tests.