Accra, the capital city of Ghana, is in a chaotic state, especially at the traffic intersections of the major roads.
Most traffic lights are not functioning to ease vehicular traffic in the city. Many years ago, the traffic lights served as one major attraction to visitors from the countryside.
The story is told of a farmer from Dangbeland who was so awed by the “on and off” of the lights in Accra that he got glued to the traffic lights just to observe what he considered a wonder. Unable to get any explanations from passersby because of the language barrier, he exclaimed in Dangbe, “iyuuuuuu, Galeome akaneo emanu glazin laluuuuuu …ke esu k3k3 egbo, ke egbo, k3k3 esu, to wit “this special light of the Gas can drink an awesome amount of kerosene…just look as it goes off and comes on again and then goes off in a minute and comes on again. This is wonderful.”
After this episode went public, visitors to Accra took special interest in Accra’s traffic lights and from other regional capitals to establish whether the visitor’s narration was true. Cities like Koforidua that for a long time had only one traffic light was “ridiculed” by visitors who had experienced more of the facility in Accra and Kumasi.
The traffic light did not only serve its utility functions by helping to ease the movement of traffic, but as a tourist attraction to those not familiar with the technology.
Many years down the line and with improved technology, the traffic lights in our cities are rather in a mess. It is sad that advancement in knowledge and technology has not brought about advancement in the design and development of appropriate traffic lights to aid traffic management in our country.
In the circumstances, there is chaos on our roads, especially during rush hours when every motorist is eager to pass through the traffic intersections. Our situation is aggravated by the uncontrolled use of motorbikes as “okada” and tricycles as “aboboya” because the riders do not observe any traffic regulations. There has always been the controversy about who is responsible for the maintenance of traffic lights.
Since the Ministry of Roads and Highways is responsible for the construction of roads, many expect it to regularly maintain the traffic lights as well as streetlights. The Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) who are supposed to take charge of localised development activities are always passing the buck.
This always makes us wonder whether we need MMDAs at all as their offices are not felt by residents within their jurisdictions. We urge the government to as a matter of urgency fix all malfunctioning traffic lights to make movements in the city a pleasant endeavour and also befitting Accra as the gateway to West Africa.
And while at it, may we also ask the IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare what his men and women with motorcycles at traffic intersections do when the traffic lights are down? Mr IGP, are they just to be visible to the motorists and other members of the public or help make life a bit comfortable on our roads as well?
Of late your men are doing well but there are very basic things like traffic control that they must do to be more visible. We urge the government too to speed up the processes of fixing the traffic lights to serve their utilitarian purposes. Traffic lights are not museum pieces but functional gadgets that must aid the free movement of motorists and pedestrians.