Travelling on the Accra-Kumasi highway has become a ‘hellish’ ordeal for road users as the stalling of reconstruction works has led to further deterioration of the Ofankor–Nsawam stretch.
The Amasaman–Doboro section in particular has developed deep potholes, with other portions showing crumbling surfaces, reducing journeys to endless ordeals.
The situation worsens whenever it rains, with large potholes turning into gullies and pools of water along several sections of the road, making driving extremely difficult and dangerous.
However, the Resident Engineer on the project, Mr Thomas David Arthur, has assured that the problem would be eased soon to give respite to commuters.
He told The Ghanaian Times in a telephone interview yesterday that the contractor had returned to site to commence work “around km 11+000.”
Mr Arthur admitted that work had started at a slow pace but gave assurance that it would gather momentum as resources were mobilised.
Meanwhile, a source at Associated Consultants, the supervising consulting firm for the project, hinted that government had released $77 million to the contractor for work to resume on the project.
Despite these assurances, residents and commuters remain frustrated at the pace of work, with many arguing that the delays continued to bring untold hardship to them.
Furthermore, they noted the situation was affecting businesses, transportation of goods, and even access to health services.
Last Thursday, drivers and commuters went through hell in traversing the road as the Amasaman-Medie stretch was blocked for more than 15 hours after two articulated trucks overturned at Satellite while attempting to meander through the deplorable road.
The incident created a huge backlog of traffic stretching to Amasaman on both sides, bringing movement to a standstill from about 5:00 p.m. on Thursday until late Friday morning.
Thousands of commuters, long-distance travellers and heavy-duty vehicles, including those travelling between Accra and the Northern Region and to Sahelian neighbours such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, were left stranded.
Many passengers were compelled to walk or resort to commercial motorbikes (okada), while others, particularly long-distance drivers, were forced to sleep in their vehicles overnight.
Even after the obstruction was cleared around 10:00 a.m. on Friday, traffic moved at a snail’s pace due to the poor state of the road and heavy congestion.
The incident, residents said, was only the latest example of how the deteriorating stretch has become a nightmare for road users.
Several drivers expressed frustration and appealed to government to release funds for the contractor to resume full-scale work.
An articulated truck driver, Philip Mensah, transporting cement, said: “I have never slept on this section of the road before, but here I am. I have to deliver this consignment before the end of the day, and look, I am stuck in the middle of the road.”
Meanwhile, some commercial drivers have taken advantage of the situation to charge exorbitant fares. A trip from Circle to Doboro, which normally costs GH¢12.00, is now pegged at GH¢20.00, while some trotro drivers complete the journey in segments, forcing passengers to pay up to three times the usual fare.
The 33.4-kilometre Ofankor-Nsawam road project, part of the National Route 6, commenced in July 2022 and was originally expected to be completed in 2024, before being extended to May 2025.
The $346.5 million project is being undertaken by Maripoma Enterprise Limited.
When completed, the road is expected to ease traffic congestion on the Accra-Nsawam corridor, boost socio-economic activity, reduce travel time and facilitate trade between Ghana and its Sahelian neighbours.
FROM KINGSLEY ASARE, AMASAMAN