Beyond Ohene Djan and Baba Yara, where next?
November 20, 2007
By Kofi Akordor
ON Sunday, November 11, 2007, the President of the Republic, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, inaugurated the refurbished Ohene Djan Stadium, to the joy of many Ghanaians. I was not privileged to enter the stadium, but from what I saw from outside, I want to agree with those who said the new stadium is a magnificent one. A similar description has been given to those in Kumasi, Tamale and Essipon in Sekondi.
What it means is that as far as playing fields are concerned, Ghana is ready to host the rest of Africa and, indeed, the whole world in January 2008 when Ghana 2008 opens its doors to the football fraternity. The question is: Beyond these edifices, how prepared is the country to play host to the international community in January next year?
We made a mess of ourselves during the climax of our 50th independence anniversary when visiting Heads of State had to be hurriedly pushed into houses offered to the government by a private company. Things were not better during the African Union (AU) Summit hosted by the country in July when painters and other artisans were still hard at work while our very important guests were checking into their rooms. These two events were not forced on us without our consent.
The first, which was our own Golden Jubilee celebration, was a monumental national event which should have taken painstaking preparation to ensure a perfect finish. But that was not to be, as we fumbled at every turn and ended up housing our own invited guests in private homes.
The second, which was the AU Summit, did not come to us by surprise. Indeed, we were told as part of the excuses for the failure of the 50th anniversary celebrations that the executive mansions which could not be completed for occupation by the Heads of State during the independence celebrations would be ready for the summit. That also came to pass with its hiccups.
Two great opportunities to showcase our country to the outside world and to position it as a destination point in the sub-region have been handled carelessly and numerous chances squandered, even though some people may not admit it.
Today, another opportunity looms, thanks to GHANA 2008. However, apart from the four stadia which we are excited about, other important areas are receiving little or no attention. I heard with dismay and a little bit of heavy heart a response given to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent by a prominent Ghanaian when asked how Tamale, one of the event venues, was ready to cope with the accommodation problems of supporters of visiting teams. Typical of the men and women who are in charge of our fate, he told the BBC correspondent, to the hearing of the whole world, that football supporters, as far as his knowledge would tell him, did not bother about accommodation. According to him, the supporters only went to the stadium to cheer their teams, after which they only looked for any open space to sleep till the following day when they looked for water to wash themselves. Very simplistic, isn’t it? That was the best way Ghana, if that man’s opinion is representative of that of the organisers, is looking at the accommodation problem confronting almost all the event centres.
A friend who is arranging accommodation for supporters of the Angolan national team in the Accra/Tema metropolitan area said the supporters, in their thousands, preferred to stay in Accra to go to Tamale each match day by chartered aircraft because they were not satisfied with accommodation facilities in Tamale.
This is not an isolated issue. We have heard that Tunisia and South Africa have also complained about poor accommodation facilities in Tamale and would, therefore, prefer staying in Kumasi while honouring their matches in Tamale. So, you see, that noble man who brushed aside the accommodation problem with nonchalant ease appears not to appreciate the seriousness of the problem. Or is that playing the ostrich game? At the end of the day, the disgrace does not go to any individual; not even to the government. It goes to the country called Ghana which could not host GHANA 2008 with success.
Accra, the nation’s capital itself, does not seem to be ready for GHANA 2008. The recent rains have exposed the numerous potholes on our roads. The drains are choked and refuse is suffocating us everywhere. Accra cannot boast of the type of roads one sees in the major cities of the world and the few that we have are perpetually crammed with heavy traffic. Any attempt to manoeuvre is obstructed by street vendors who have taken their business into the middle of the roads. Our traffic lights do not work most of the time and where there should be traffic wardens, we encounter unemployed youth clad in dirty dresses or are barechested brandishing tree branches and leaves as instruments of traffic control. This is the spectacle we are going to put on exhibition for our visitors. For a country that is recognised as the first Black nation to gain political independence, for a country that is celebrating its 50th anniversary and for a country that wants to assume the role of the gateway to the West African sub-region, we have not been fair to ourselves.
One would have thought that having offered to host the continental tournament, certain crash programmes would be undertaken to give the national capital a facelift. A good transportation network would also have ensured that travelling from any part of the country to the match venues will not be bothersome. The Accra to Paga railway system which was promised the country could also not be delivered. So the north, so close, is still far away from the south.
Apart from gate proceeds, it appears the country is not positioning itself to derive any gains from the tournament. Most of our potential tourist destinations are still not accessible because of the poor road network.
Some of our guests, for instance, may want to use the opportunity to visit the birthplace of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who is intricately associated with Ghana’s independence and Africa’s political emancipation. But what will they see if they manage to reach Nkroful? Nothing but neglect and decay. Where Nkrumah grew up, where he sucked his mother’s breast in his infancy should have been preserved for posterity. But we do not find any need for that. We prefer spending money on more ‘important’ things which do not bring any returns.
I was glad to read in one of the private newspapers that Mr William Ayambire, the Northern Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, was advising hoteliers, restaurant and chop bar operators to promote local dishes during the tournament. I welcome this advice because the essence of tourism is to sample what pertains elsewhere. It will not serve our national interest if visitors will be served with the same thing they are used to eating or drinking in their own countries during the tournament. The most important thing is that these must be served under very hygienic conditions.
Between now and January next year may be too short for certain things to be done. All the same, we can do something about the filth which has engulfed our capital city and other major towns. We can also do something about our traffic lights which do not function, especially at a time we claim the power crisis is over.
If at first we thought foreign teams were only coming here to play and depart at the end of each match, then we need to revise our strategies. For now, our dreams do not seem to go beyond the Ohene Djan, the Baba Yara and other stadia constructed for the tournament.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Peace officer or a warrior?
Peace officer or a warrior?
November 13,2007
By Kofi Akordor
THE Ghana Police Service has a history which cannot be detached from the country’s colonial history. During the colonial era, qualification into the police placed emphasis more on brawn than brain. That was why people below a certain height were deemed not strong enough to dish out hefty slaps to those caught in breach of the law. The phrase, “buga buga” in Hausa, loosely translated,” beat, beat”, became the unofficial name for the men in uniform. Policemen in those days who were giants and who were recruited mostly from the northern parts of the then Gold Coast were always handy to unleash terror on the citizens who threatened the British colonialists.
In short, what we know as the Ghana Police Service today started as a coercive tool of our colonial masters not only to maintain law and order but also to keep the “natives” in line. Fifty years after independence, the police are yet to shed all their colonial garb and mentality and understandably continue to carry the tag “buga buga” from the majority of the population.
The question is, why have the police remained in this state, after several efforts to modernise the service and bring it in tune with current trends, more so when it could be argued that it has some of the best intellectuals among its officer corps today?
Tradition, they say, dies hard and the traditions of terror and coercion, two hallmarks of the colonial police, are still lingering somewhere in the darkness ready to surface when the opportunity offers itself.
After independence, the new political leadership found the police a useful instrument to control dissent. Even though there were major administrative changes to Africanise the service and shift the focus of its personnel, the age-old mentality of “hit and hit” remained and rioters and demonstrators always faced the brunt of the police during periods of civil disobedience.
The Acheampong regime gave a further boost to this culture of force and violence when the Ghana Police Service was renamed the Ghana Police Force and had in its arsenal powerful weapons, including armoured vehicles. That was the time the military regime of General Acheampong was confronting agitation from pro-democracy forces which were demanding a return to civilian democratic rule.
After the return to constitutional rule in 1992, all the security agencies, including the police and the military, have been remodelled to keep pace with the country’s new democratic culture. The military, for instance, has kept out of public view for several years now and the personnel are gradually getting acclimatised to their traditional role as guardians of the territorial integrity of the sovereign state of Ghana, instead of the political rulers that they had been for several years in the days of military dictatorship.
This has left the police to maintain internal security. Unfortunately, the police have not been able to differentiate clearly what constitutes national interest, public interest and government interest. People on peaceful demonstrations continue to suffer atrocities at the hands of the police in the name of maintaining law and order. The Kumepreko and Wahala demonstrations of 1995 and 2006, respectively, during which lives were lost and bones broken, are clear examples of the misuse of the police to handle purely civilian and non-violent events.
While it is easy to explain why the police pander to the political authorities of the day for obvious reasons, the same cannot be said of atrocities meted out to suspects. Until the day the appointment of the top hierarchy of the police will be done by a body other than the Executive, we should expect, for now, that police neutrality in certain matters will be a mirage.
However, one area where the police must take a critical look at is the manner the personnel carry out their lawful duties and handle suspects. In recent times, there have been several reported cases of suspects dying in police custody, while others come out with bruises and broken bones. These were obviously due to the bad treatment given to those suspects while they were in the custody of the police. We know some suspects can be stubborn and aggressive, but the policemen and women, being professionals, should have a better way handling such suspects without causing harm or death.
There are many of such cases and two of the most recent were that of George Atua, the driver who was arrested for traffic offence and who died at the Suhum Hospital a day after his arrest, and 32-year-old Israel Kobla Amenume, one of the suspects in the Anloga violent clash who died while in the custody of the Ho Police.
Another phenomenon is the use of firearms. The police should be the first to know that the result of any gun fired is death and, therefore, before they pull the trigger, all the options available will be weighed. Strangely, warning shots which are directed upwards always end up penetrating the bowels of people or passing through the shoulders of those who may be described as fortunate.
Take the case of those four innocent people who were killed by a police patrol team at Dansoman in April last year after they had been mistaken for armed robbers.
The Anloga incident of Thursday, November 1, 2007 is another case of the police going to the place not to maintain peace but to do battle. So they went with live ammunition and were ready to shoot to kill.
We know the police are operating under several constraints, be they psychological, logistical, financial, physical and material. Some of us know that under the circumstances, they are doing very well and must be commended.
However, we cannot run away from the lack of internal indiscipline among some of the personnel and the manner some of them are ready to lend themselves to what are purely private affairs.
The police will thrive not only on the support and co-operation of the public but, more important, on the confidence reposed in them. This will only come about when service personnel are seen as peace officers and not vandals who can go on the rampage and destroy lives and property through negligence and recklessness. That was why Jimmy Cliff, one of world’s best reggae singers, once asked in one of his songs, “Peace officer, are you a warrior?” in apparent reference to the atrocities police officers could unleash on innocent citizens.
To that question, we would want to respond that we prefer our police officers being peace officers to warriors.
November 13,2007
By Kofi Akordor
THE Ghana Police Service has a history which cannot be detached from the country’s colonial history. During the colonial era, qualification into the police placed emphasis more on brawn than brain. That was why people below a certain height were deemed not strong enough to dish out hefty slaps to those caught in breach of the law. The phrase, “buga buga” in Hausa, loosely translated,” beat, beat”, became the unofficial name for the men in uniform. Policemen in those days who were giants and who were recruited mostly from the northern parts of the then Gold Coast were always handy to unleash terror on the citizens who threatened the British colonialists.
In short, what we know as the Ghana Police Service today started as a coercive tool of our colonial masters not only to maintain law and order but also to keep the “natives” in line. Fifty years after independence, the police are yet to shed all their colonial garb and mentality and understandably continue to carry the tag “buga buga” from the majority of the population.
The question is, why have the police remained in this state, after several efforts to modernise the service and bring it in tune with current trends, more so when it could be argued that it has some of the best intellectuals among its officer corps today?
Tradition, they say, dies hard and the traditions of terror and coercion, two hallmarks of the colonial police, are still lingering somewhere in the darkness ready to surface when the opportunity offers itself.
After independence, the new political leadership found the police a useful instrument to control dissent. Even though there were major administrative changes to Africanise the service and shift the focus of its personnel, the age-old mentality of “hit and hit” remained and rioters and demonstrators always faced the brunt of the police during periods of civil disobedience.
The Acheampong regime gave a further boost to this culture of force and violence when the Ghana Police Service was renamed the Ghana Police Force and had in its arsenal powerful weapons, including armoured vehicles. That was the time the military regime of General Acheampong was confronting agitation from pro-democracy forces which were demanding a return to civilian democratic rule.
After the return to constitutional rule in 1992, all the security agencies, including the police and the military, have been remodelled to keep pace with the country’s new democratic culture. The military, for instance, has kept out of public view for several years now and the personnel are gradually getting acclimatised to their traditional role as guardians of the territorial integrity of the sovereign state of Ghana, instead of the political rulers that they had been for several years in the days of military dictatorship.
This has left the police to maintain internal security. Unfortunately, the police have not been able to differentiate clearly what constitutes national interest, public interest and government interest. People on peaceful demonstrations continue to suffer atrocities at the hands of the police in the name of maintaining law and order. The Kumepreko and Wahala demonstrations of 1995 and 2006, respectively, during which lives were lost and bones broken, are clear examples of the misuse of the police to handle purely civilian and non-violent events.
While it is easy to explain why the police pander to the political authorities of the day for obvious reasons, the same cannot be said of atrocities meted out to suspects. Until the day the appointment of the top hierarchy of the police will be done by a body other than the Executive, we should expect, for now, that police neutrality in certain matters will be a mirage.
However, one area where the police must take a critical look at is the manner the personnel carry out their lawful duties and handle suspects. In recent times, there have been several reported cases of suspects dying in police custody, while others come out with bruises and broken bones. These were obviously due to the bad treatment given to those suspects while they were in the custody of the police. We know some suspects can be stubborn and aggressive, but the policemen and women, being professionals, should have a better way handling such suspects without causing harm or death.
There are many of such cases and two of the most recent were that of George Atua, the driver who was arrested for traffic offence and who died at the Suhum Hospital a day after his arrest, and 32-year-old Israel Kobla Amenume, one of the suspects in the Anloga violent clash who died while in the custody of the Ho Police.
Another phenomenon is the use of firearms. The police should be the first to know that the result of any gun fired is death and, therefore, before they pull the trigger, all the options available will be weighed. Strangely, warning shots which are directed upwards always end up penetrating the bowels of people or passing through the shoulders of those who may be described as fortunate.
Take the case of those four innocent people who were killed by a police patrol team at Dansoman in April last year after they had been mistaken for armed robbers.
The Anloga incident of Thursday, November 1, 2007 is another case of the police going to the place not to maintain peace but to do battle. So they went with live ammunition and were ready to shoot to kill.
We know the police are operating under several constraints, be they psychological, logistical, financial, physical and material. Some of us know that under the circumstances, they are doing very well and must be commended.
However, we cannot run away from the lack of internal indiscipline among some of the personnel and the manner some of them are ready to lend themselves to what are purely private affairs.
The police will thrive not only on the support and co-operation of the public but, more important, on the confidence reposed in them. This will only come about when service personnel are seen as peace officers and not vandals who can go on the rampage and destroy lives and property through negligence and recklessness. That was why Jimmy Cliff, one of world’s best reggae singers, once asked in one of his songs, “Peace officer, are you a warrior?” in apparent reference to the atrocities police officers could unleash on innocent citizens.
To that question, we would want to respond that we prefer our police officers being peace officers to warriors.
Problem goes, problem comes
Problem goes, problem comes
November 27, 2007
By Kofi Akordor
WHEN the Accra-Tema Motorway was opened to traffic in 1964, it was mainly to link two major cities — Accra, the national capital, and Tema, the emerging industrial and port city. At that time, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the visionary, foresaw heavy vehicular traffic building between the two cities, reaching its peak when his dream of transforming Tema into the industrial hub of the newly-independent Ghana began to materialise.
Those who were old enough will recollect that in those days once one exited Accra, the only place of call was Tema, unless, of course, one were continuing towards Ho and beyond or Aflao, the country’s eastern gateway.
Today, 43 years later, the Accra-Tema Motorway cannot be said to be playing the same role envisaged at its inauguration. The Motorway now carries heavy traffic destined for not only Tema and its numerous satellite settlements on the east but new communities that have sprung up on the western side.
New residential areas on the western side of the Motorway include East Legon, Adjiriganno, Trassaco Valley and the still-under-development Borteiman Estate.
On the eastern side are numerous factories, bonded warehouses, shopping malls, banks and several residential estates. Among the residential areas are Tema communities 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Apart from these are private estates belonging to the National Trust Holding Company (NTHC), Hydrafom, Devtraco, Coastal, Frempomaa, Parakuo, Regimanuel-Gray and many others.
Among the industrial establishments are the giant Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Printex, Johnson Wax, Kasapreko, Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company and Papaye, the food giant.
From the above, it is obvious that the Motorway had long ceased to be an express way linking two cities to become virtually a street running through several townships or residential settlements. In fact, technically speaking, a huge chunk of the Tema township has grown alongside the Motorway and the only way these settlements canlink up with their roots in metropolitan Tema is by the Motorway or through what is popularly known as the Beach Road which has its own problems.
It is, therefore, strange that what is obvious to the ordinary person has not made any impression on the minds of our urban development planners. If it has, then they are slow in acting. Many Ghanaians expected that by now the Motorway would have been redesigned to assume a bigger role beyond being a link between Accra and Tema.
The expectation was that various exit and entry points would be incorporated into the new design to ensure that all the safety concerns and the interests of the residents of the newly-developed communities were addressed.
As it is now, residents of the new communities, confronted by survival instincts, have taken a decision which has its ramifications by creating unapproved roads onto the Motorway. Those who want to remain on the good side of the law have no option but use the Beach Road running through Teshie and Nungua or the Spintex Road, which has its own story to tell.
A few months ago, the Department of Urban Roads saw the wisdom in opening an exit point on the Motorway to facilitate easy movement for residents of Sakumono Estates, Communities 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. This worked wonderfully well and reduced traffic on the Spintex Road. We thought that was a new beginning to create more of those official entry and exit points to prevent people from creating their own routes that would pose danger to other road users. Unfortunately, the joy of the aforementioned communities was shortlived. The officially approved exit point was among those which were closed by the same Department of Urban Roads in an exercise to close all unapproved routes.
Sharing the same fate with the Accra-Tema Motorway is the Spintex Road. This road began as a rough laterite road which acted as a bypass serving the needs of a few industrial establishments at the time that had to transport materials from the Tema Port. It derives its name from one of the textile companies operating there — Spintex, which has since become Printex, but the name of the road remains the same.
With time, this road witnessed rapid development as speculators who could see into the future acquired plots for various development projects. It had its first taste of bitumen around 1992, when the authorities began to recognise its potential.
At first the development was gradual, then suddenly there was an explosion and the Spintex Road became the target of business worth its salt. So it came to pass that many estate developers grabbed land and built estates along the Spintex Road. Commercial houses which could predict the needs of the residents of these estates did not hesitate to open shops on both sides of the road. One motor firm, Sneda Motors, did not fail to realise the opportunities that the Spintex Road had on offer and quickly opened a showroom opposite the Palace Shopping Mall. This mall was touted as the biggest shopping mall in town until GAME and SHOPRITE came to pay put to that claim.
The financial institutions could not be left out and almost all the bank worth their salt, especially the new ones, have all got branches on the Spintex Road. At least I can count ECOBANK, STANBIC, BARCLAYS, ZENITH, PRUDENTIAL, UNIBANK AND STANCHART.
To serve the fuel needs of motorists are GOIL, SHELL, OANDO, GLORY, TOTAL, AGAPET and ALLIED OIL. PAPAYE, the local food chain, the Bank of Ghana warehouse, a host of wine and liquor shops, coffee shops, fast food joints, nightclubs, pharmacies, including one belonging to Ernest Chemists, Kpogas and Platinum furniture companies are all bona fide tenants on the Spintex Road.
Jostling for space between these giant companies are the usual containers and kiosks selling anything, from second-hand goods which include old bed sheets, blankets, towels, plates, glasses, bowls, computers, stoves, television sets and computers, to provisions and alcoholic beverages.
As should be expected, the heavy traffic is too much for the once rough and dusty Spintex Road to carry. Surely, the Spintex Road is one of the busiest commercial roads in Accra and we do not need a seer to tell us that it needs proper upgrading. I believe some of the business entities operating on it will be willing to lend support once they know a better road will enhance their operations.
Driving on the Spintex Road in either direction can be hell. Things could even get worse if there is an accident or those long haulage trucks have come to discharge their cargo of rice and sugar, which we enjoy importing from other countries, in the various warehouses.
We should not wait for doomsday before starting something frantic. The time to upgrade the Spintex Road into a dual-carriageway with asphalt is now. This way, it will conveniently ease the load on the Motorway. Until that day when the new Spintex Road will be fluid with free vehicular movement, the Motorway should be opened to use by motorists in the various communities dotted along it. It does not make sense building a Motorway which lies empty, while parallel to it motorists struggle to reach their offices or homes.
November 27, 2007
By Kofi Akordor
WHEN the Accra-Tema Motorway was opened to traffic in 1964, it was mainly to link two major cities — Accra, the national capital, and Tema, the emerging industrial and port city. At that time, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the visionary, foresaw heavy vehicular traffic building between the two cities, reaching its peak when his dream of transforming Tema into the industrial hub of the newly-independent Ghana began to materialise.
Those who were old enough will recollect that in those days once one exited Accra, the only place of call was Tema, unless, of course, one were continuing towards Ho and beyond or Aflao, the country’s eastern gateway.
Today, 43 years later, the Accra-Tema Motorway cannot be said to be playing the same role envisaged at its inauguration. The Motorway now carries heavy traffic destined for not only Tema and its numerous satellite settlements on the east but new communities that have sprung up on the western side.
New residential areas on the western side of the Motorway include East Legon, Adjiriganno, Trassaco Valley and the still-under-development Borteiman Estate.
On the eastern side are numerous factories, bonded warehouses, shopping malls, banks and several residential estates. Among the residential areas are Tema communities 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Apart from these are private estates belonging to the National Trust Holding Company (NTHC), Hydrafom, Devtraco, Coastal, Frempomaa, Parakuo, Regimanuel-Gray and many others.
Among the industrial establishments are the giant Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Printex, Johnson Wax, Kasapreko, Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company and Papaye, the food giant.
From the above, it is obvious that the Motorway had long ceased to be an express way linking two cities to become virtually a street running through several townships or residential settlements. In fact, technically speaking, a huge chunk of the Tema township has grown alongside the Motorway and the only way these settlements canlink up with their roots in metropolitan Tema is by the Motorway or through what is popularly known as the Beach Road which has its own problems.
It is, therefore, strange that what is obvious to the ordinary person has not made any impression on the minds of our urban development planners. If it has, then they are slow in acting. Many Ghanaians expected that by now the Motorway would have been redesigned to assume a bigger role beyond being a link between Accra and Tema.
The expectation was that various exit and entry points would be incorporated into the new design to ensure that all the safety concerns and the interests of the residents of the newly-developed communities were addressed.
As it is now, residents of the new communities, confronted by survival instincts, have taken a decision which has its ramifications by creating unapproved roads onto the Motorway. Those who want to remain on the good side of the law have no option but use the Beach Road running through Teshie and Nungua or the Spintex Road, which has its own story to tell.
A few months ago, the Department of Urban Roads saw the wisdom in opening an exit point on the Motorway to facilitate easy movement for residents of Sakumono Estates, Communities 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. This worked wonderfully well and reduced traffic on the Spintex Road. We thought that was a new beginning to create more of those official entry and exit points to prevent people from creating their own routes that would pose danger to other road users. Unfortunately, the joy of the aforementioned communities was shortlived. The officially approved exit point was among those which were closed by the same Department of Urban Roads in an exercise to close all unapproved routes.
Sharing the same fate with the Accra-Tema Motorway is the Spintex Road. This road began as a rough laterite road which acted as a bypass serving the needs of a few industrial establishments at the time that had to transport materials from the Tema Port. It derives its name from one of the textile companies operating there — Spintex, which has since become Printex, but the name of the road remains the same.
With time, this road witnessed rapid development as speculators who could see into the future acquired plots for various development projects. It had its first taste of bitumen around 1992, when the authorities began to recognise its potential.
At first the development was gradual, then suddenly there was an explosion and the Spintex Road became the target of business worth its salt. So it came to pass that many estate developers grabbed land and built estates along the Spintex Road. Commercial houses which could predict the needs of the residents of these estates did not hesitate to open shops on both sides of the road. One motor firm, Sneda Motors, did not fail to realise the opportunities that the Spintex Road had on offer and quickly opened a showroom opposite the Palace Shopping Mall. This mall was touted as the biggest shopping mall in town until GAME and SHOPRITE came to pay put to that claim.
The financial institutions could not be left out and almost all the bank worth their salt, especially the new ones, have all got branches on the Spintex Road. At least I can count ECOBANK, STANBIC, BARCLAYS, ZENITH, PRUDENTIAL, UNIBANK AND STANCHART.
To serve the fuel needs of motorists are GOIL, SHELL, OANDO, GLORY, TOTAL, AGAPET and ALLIED OIL. PAPAYE, the local food chain, the Bank of Ghana warehouse, a host of wine and liquor shops, coffee shops, fast food joints, nightclubs, pharmacies, including one belonging to Ernest Chemists, Kpogas and Platinum furniture companies are all bona fide tenants on the Spintex Road.
Jostling for space between these giant companies are the usual containers and kiosks selling anything, from second-hand goods which include old bed sheets, blankets, towels, plates, glasses, bowls, computers, stoves, television sets and computers, to provisions and alcoholic beverages.
As should be expected, the heavy traffic is too much for the once rough and dusty Spintex Road to carry. Surely, the Spintex Road is one of the busiest commercial roads in Accra and we do not need a seer to tell us that it needs proper upgrading. I believe some of the business entities operating on it will be willing to lend support once they know a better road will enhance their operations.
Driving on the Spintex Road in either direction can be hell. Things could even get worse if there is an accident or those long haulage trucks have come to discharge their cargo of rice and sugar, which we enjoy importing from other countries, in the various warehouses.
We should not wait for doomsday before starting something frantic. The time to upgrade the Spintex Road into a dual-carriageway with asphalt is now. This way, it will conveniently ease the load on the Motorway. Until that day when the new Spintex Road will be fluid with free vehicular movement, the Motorway should be opened to use by motorists in the various communities dotted along it. It does not make sense building a Motorway which lies empty, while parallel to it motorists struggle to reach their offices or homes.
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