Abel Dzidotor
The 41-year-old truck driver, Abel Dzidotor, who abandoned his vehicle on the Tema-Mpakadan rail line for causing the accident on Thursday afternoon has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Juapong Circuit Court in the Eastern Region.
This was after Dzidotor pleaded guilty to three out of four charges, including inconsiderate driving and causing unlawful damage.
The court, presided over by Prosper Deu-Love Gormashie, took into consideration the fact that the convict was married with three children, and his guilty plea at the first instance.
In the delivery of the judgment, the accused received 100 penalty units for careless and inconsiderate driving, 20 penalty units for unauthorized stopping, and six months imprisonment with hard labour for causing unlawful damage.
On Thursday, April 18 2024, at about 12:10 pm, authorities of the railway development together with their counterparts from Poland carried out a test of the new Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) 001 from Tema to Mpakadan.
In the course of testing the train, and on reaching Abortia, a suburb of Juapong, in the Asuogyaman District, the train collided with an abandoned truck across the railway Iine at an unapproved area.
The truck got damaged beyond repairs while the train had some degree of damage.
The Prosecutor told the court that the accused driver went into hiding at Tagadzi where he was arrested and arraigned before the court.
After his arrest, he was charged with careless and inconsiderate driving and he was sentenced to 100 penalty units in default and served 20 months in jail.
The Court has however adjourned the hearing on Count 4 which is the charge of failing to produce a driver’s license to May 9th, 2024.
However, his sentences are expected to run concurrently.
The Kia driver as gathered deliberately parked on the railway line causing a collision with the new train during a test run.
The train, recently introduced by the Akufo-Addo-led government for the Tema-Mpakadan line, was being evaluated when the accident occurred.
John Peter Amewu, Minister for Railways Development, earlier confirmed that the Kia driver presented himself voluntarily to the authorities for questioning.
He mentioned that no injuries were reported, and both passengers and inspectors aboard the train were unharmed.
The minister also assured the public that the train remains in good condition, with only minor damage to its frontal area.
The new train, manufactured by the Polish company Pesa and delivered in early April 2024, is the first diesel train in Ghana.
It is intended to serve the newly constructed Tema-Mpakadan standard-gauge railway line, transporting passengers from Mpakadan to Tema port, with a switch to a narrow-gauge line for travel to Accra.
The Tema-Mpakadan railway line, spanning 97 km, is nearing completion and forms part of the transportation system connecting Tema port to both the southern and northern regions of Ghana.
It is an essential segment of the Ghana-Burkina Faso interconnectivity project, which aims to establish a 1000 km railway network linking Ouagadougou to the Port in Tema.
Meanwhile, the project is expected to be fully operational by 2024.
–BY Daniel Bampoe