Transport is the main component in the development elements that can catalyze and facilitate all other actions. The invention of the steam engine propelled the Industrial Revolution and that gave birth to ships, boats which made Sea travel possible, so have Cars and trains made road and railway movements possible, airplanes came later.
One component of development Ghana has not been smart enough to develop is the railway sector. Cars and trucks first came into the Gold Coast now Ghana in 1930s mostly used by European state officials,
business companies and missionaries to facilitate their activities. The railway was mainly to carry raw materials to the port for export. After Independence the car became a symbol of life style and class among Ghanaians. The state started buying the most expensive cars for ministers and officials and business owners also joined the race for Morden cars. At that time the railways were constructed by the colonizers,mainly to facilitate export of goods and not to serve as public transport or for Confort of citizens. Unfortunately despite Ghana economy is export and import dependent, the railways was not prioritized in post independence development. To a large extent one can say the railways in Ghana is dead even what was left by the colonial government has been reduced to a shadow of itself. An efficient rail internally in Accra and Kumasi could have easily resolved lots of the congestion. An efficient railway from Accra to paga and to Wa could have minimized deadly accidents and saved our roads from deteriorating fast due to heavy haulage vehicles and also reduce drastically cost of transport of goods and services . Nigeria is lucky they had a network of railway from Lagos to Kano, Sokoto and other Northern towns from colonial times. Their railways are still functioning but poorly.
Roads was more of a priority and much was done particularly under Nkrumah to open up the countryside. However it does not look like we have adequate policies to deal with public transport. The state transport Corporation STC Mkrumah set up is collapsing traveling with them is a nightmare.
I remember those days we had public buses going round Tamale town and even picking school children free. Today the public transport system is chaotic. Any body can bring any type of vehicle and use it as commercial long distance transportation. Containers for carrying goods are converted in to passenger vehicles.Most trotro In Accra are dilapidated vehicles, obviously not fit to be on the road but are allowed to carry passengers unchecked. Police then take advantage to get their daily chop money from owners of such rikiti vehicles. Of late there are complaints about Toyota Voxy not being fit for public transport and yet they are becoming the dominant brand on the roads
Even though there has been improvement in long distance comfortable coaches, like VIP and OA transport they are not well regulated and don’t meet professional standards. Meanwhile private cars being more as indicator of class or good lifestyle are chocking the streets of all towns and villages. Causing congestion and pollution. There is no policy on cars and vehicles parking grounds in our towns and cities. You can park anywhere and anyhow. In Accra and all the regional capitals millions can be collected annually from parking facilities alone as is done in most developed countries. Just as the railway sector has been allowed to rot, the road network is nothing to be proud of. Pot holes luck of appropriate signs and instructions dust and sometimes death traps. The Karimenga curve on Tamale Bolgatanga road is nothing but a death trap. Many lives have been lost due to bad roads. Corruption and collusion between politicians and contractors leads to poorly constructed roads that deteriorate weeks or months after completion. As a clear indication of lack of public transport policy, tricycles have taken over in most towns and villages as principal means of transport. In Tamale and other northern towns cars no longer do taxi it is the preserve of tricycles despite it is by law illegal to use them for commercial transport according to police and National Roads safety is Authority. In the rural areas it is an eye sore to see how people are loaded on tricycles due to poor roads and lack of appropriate transport.
Ghana is lucky to have rivers that could have been used for internal transport. The River Volter and along the coast could have had a viable transport sector. There is no reason why one can not use boat or ship from Accra to Aflao or to Takoradi. Similarly it should be possible to have transport safely from Bupe to Akosombo and from Pwalugu to Bupe. All these neglected means of transport and reliance on only road is what we are paying for. Today due to bad roads and congestion in the towns, it takes a whole day to travel from Accra to Tamale. Movement round is very slow. Deadly accidents and head long collisions occur often and taking lives. If one is to calculate the amount Ghana is losing due to delays bad roads and accidents annually could be used to improve the transport sector.
Last and not the least is air transport. It is still impossible to travel by air to some of our towns and cities. Travel by air is far too expensive compared to our neighbors. Infact it is mainly government officials and business owners who go by flights in Ghana . It is very sad to know that as at now Ghana has no national airline. The Ghana airways and black star lines Nkrumah left behind are all dead. Sometimes one wonders what work the minister of transport does.
For Ghana to be able to improve our economy and attract investment, the transport sector must be good. Fast railways connecting towns and cities, good roads with Comfortable buses and cars and airports in most towns and cities. This I believe can be done with the right policies where money is put in the most critical sectors of developing the economy. One question I always wonder is why our leaders all know what pertains in other countries some schooled and excelled in Europe and America but when given the chance they don’t try to create better conditions for us. With good policies Ghana should be doing much better than some European countries.
Alandu Richard
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