Accra-Kumasi-Accra By Road On 24 December & January 2 – A Layman’s Perspective

As posited by Kaakyire Kwame Appiah in his famous song, “24th”, l took a cue and quickly bought a black polythene bag, packed a few belongings therein, stuck it firmly under my armpit for good reasons and “pa”, headed for my helmet at Asante Effiduasi from Accra to spend the Bronya (Christmas).

This firm decision was made after having critically and carefully examined myself in the preceding days prior to 24th December, 2025. Life in Accra had secretly whispered to me that l cannot be contained therein during the festivities. After all, “Wo se akyi nny? wo d? a, ?h? ara na wo tafere”, alias, “kuntun hwan a, n’akyi ara na ?k?”, to wit, “Home Is Home” aka ” Home Sweet Home”.

Save a few hitches prior to Nsawam bypass, the journey commenced smoothly.

 

NSAWAM FLAT TRAILER

 

Getting to the tail end of the Nsawam bypass was this huge object before me on the road. Initially, l thought l was dreaming, somewhat of a hallucination having taken on Ibrahim Mahama’s Engineers & Planners on the subject matter lately.

Yah, a mining machinery being ferried by a flat trailer with weird width covering about two thirds of the entire road surface was right ahead of me – See pictures above.

I managed, after towing same for a while to overtake same using the shoulders. That set me wondering why no escort vehicles were not at the hind and or frontage. Some 400 meters away stood a wagon, apparently, the escort vehicle, with a non functional top light waiting at the background.

 

TEACHER MANTEY TRAILER

Immediately after Teacher Mantey Township was another, with the same features descending the slope, apparently marshalling all its strength to confront the 280m thereabouts Tetekasum hill ahead of it in the Suhum/Kraboa/Coaltar enclave – I just love and like the combined name of the trio – SUHUM, KRABOA, COALTAR. This too, there were no escort vehicles at the rear nor frontage, but some 400m away stood one, this time flashing its top light.

 

PUZZLER

My question is, why were these two escort vehicles so detached from the trucks they were providing escort considering the fact that the road was dual carriage, thus no traffic was expected to emerge from the opposite direction to warrant such a gap? In fact, there was no synergy between the parent trucks and the escort vehicles – (were they just cosmetic to satisfy Regulation 94 (2) of Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, LI 2180?).

Indeed, the actions and inactions of these two escort vehicles really bring to mind and fore, the good old days practice of “smuggling” ones girlfriend to a compound house – the male will be far apart from the lady whilst remotely navigating her path to his house.

 

KWAHU FODOA TRAILER

On my way back to Accra on January 2nd after emptying my polythene bag, l chanced yet, upon another flat trailer, this time ferrying a fellow truck – (See picture 2 below.)

Need I add to? This trailer had not, a single escort vehicle as it proudly transverse that perilous stretch.

Oh yes, it had just passed the border town of Dadieso on the Ashanti-Eastern regions boundary where the Police had mounted a road check, It had and did transverse through seamlessly, passed through the kola nut town of Kwahu Fodoa junction and busily heading towards Nkawkaw.

There was everything wrong with the flat trailer – aside no escort vehicle(s) accompanying same, it had not, no number plate at the rear (perhaps, it had assumed that of the IVECO truck it was ferrying, GT 7254-14 – this was conspicuously displayed on the ‘face’ of the records), weird width protruding unto the incoming lane as can be discerned from the picture, no functional tail lights at the rear, host poorly lashed on the trailer, among others…….AND THIS HAD JUST BYPASSED A GHANA POLICE SERVICE MOUNTED CHECK POINT AT DADIESO.

 

SECOND CHANCE GRIDLOCK

Admittedly, I have no qualms, in fact, no beef with either the leadership, congregation or whatever of Believers Worship Centre/Second Chance Church led by Prophet Stephen Adom Kyei-Duah for the gridlock that occasioned on 31st December and 1st January in the Asankare/Adansi enclave on the Accra Kumasi Highway where his Philadelphia City Auditorium is situated.

Who am I, a mere mortal to question same? Granting without even admitting that I am clothed same, his followings, which is alleged to attract and attach over one fifteenth of Ghana’s 36 million population, yah, 2.5 million congregants, was enough to piss any right thinking Ghanaian off – wao, thanks to Karl Marx who opined that RELIGION IS THE OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE/MASSES.

Yah, its crossover or whatever, is again, alleged to have commandeered a little over a quarter of all registered high occupancy buses in the country. This virtually brought public transportation on its knees as commuters trying to get to their various and varied destinations were stranded at various lorry stations nationwide – various electronic media outlets reported news item.

 

STATE SECURITY APPARATUSES INEPTITUDE

For close to four months or more, this congregation by the Church was known or ought to have been known by the State security apparatuses.

– National security operatives are dotted all over the MMDAs.

– ?The Ghana Police has its intelligence gathering wing, which was expected to liaise with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to contain such imminent happenings.

– ?Further is the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) and Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) in the conundrum – both have road safety undertones with the latter harbouring a host of literature and personnel on traffic management.

– ?Lastly, but certainly not the least, is the MMDA under whose jurisdiction the facility is situated. Axiomatically, they granted permits both for the erection of the facility after satisfying themselves with the transport impact assessment and, again, permit authorizing such a huge congregation in their jurisdiction.

All the aforementioned bodies have trained and salaried minds not only to nose out for some of these ripples, but to think through and also outside the box and ultimately put in measures to avert, at best, and/or mitigate at worse, any such happenings as occasioned on the duo days.

Unfortunately for us, in this part of the world, no one takes responsibility for his/her actions and inactions – they are not even aware of their responsibilities. We ascribe everything to the devil and go to sleep only to be confronted with the same set of issues the following day or year.

Recall writing a piece titled TO MAAFE AND BACK – A CASE OF THE POLICE THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX where I analyzed the gridlock on the Aburi stretch whenever Aburi Girls Senior High School (what a tall name – thanks to political interferences in education) either vacates, reopens or a PTA meeting was being held at the school.

This is certainly Ghana for you. We never learn – the gridlock on Aburi stretch and the Philadelphia City Auditorium, among others, will be accepted as a routine and shall continually repeat itself.

Flat trailers with weird widths without escorts or with “detached” escorts, as narrated above, will continue to inundate our road landscape until a high profile person become a casualty.

What a non functional country we all live in it – NOTHING WORKS.

My Fractured Peace firmly put to rest.

Written by Osei Kwabena Esq., Etia Street, Asante Effiduasi

 

 

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