Our elders have a way of swaying the argument, they maintain that ” yeye dee ehia ansa na yaye dee efata” meaning we must do what is necessary before what is pleasing, this is what, put into English, is stated as ” a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush”.
That exactly is the reality of the choice before us when the government insists on constructing a six-lane dual expressway from Accra to Kumasi whilst others maintain that we need to complete the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi trunk road before beginning the expressway.
I have heard many well-meaning Ghanaians, including the Ghana Institute of Engineers and other individuals, including the former Minister for Roads and Member of Parliament for Bantama, Asenso Boakye, say that if we have money for an expressway from Accra to Kumasi, then we must complete the restructuring of the existing trunk road, into a dual carriageway before embarking upon the expressway.
Although such views have been construed as opposition against the expressway project, and in particular, the pleading of Asenso Boakye, in a letter to the President, suggesting the completion of ongoing works on the existing road, which was given a political twist and presented to the public as opposition for which he was ridiculed and presented as somebody against the progress of Ashanti, Asanteman nkosoo.
I have not heard anybody suggest directly or indirectly that we do not need an expressway from Accra to Kumasi nor any part of the country.
Primarily, expressways are not free. Users have to pay heavily along sections.
However, they provide quick, smooth and efficient movements.
Drivers will tell you that fuel consumption is low as they do not have to apply brakes frequently as on busy and choked highways.
However, there is no country in the world that runs exclusively on expressways.
None of them constructs an expressway unless there is a commensurate free and dependable highway as an alternative route.
Therefore, to suggest that a call for the completion of the dualisation of the Accra Kumasi trunk road is an opposition to the development of an expressway is not only a misrepresentation of facts but equally a reluctance to accept a contrary view to the position held by the government.
Trips
I have been to China a couple of times and can attest to the fact that China has many expressways and China seems to toll roads more than I have personally observed.
I have been to Morocco several times and observed the multiple tollbooths along expressways.
So also have I encountered tollbooths in the United States.
But in all these countries,there are alternative good and safe roads which do not attract tolls.
I was in South Africa in 2005. I had led a delegation from Graphic to learn from them how weekend newspapers operated.
We met a Ghanaian friend who wanted to send money home for a project.
He came to meet me at the airport to see me through departure formalities.
He gave me the money and once I entered the departure lounge, we bid farewell and goodbye to each other.
I was in the queue moving through the aerobridge to board the aircraft when he called to announce his safe arrival at his place, some 300 kilometres from Johannesburg.
He had travelled on a six-lane dual carriage expressway and travelled that long whilst I had still not boarded the plane.
It will be great to tell the same story after seeing off a friend at Kotoka Airport in Accra and getting back home in Kumasi before the friend takes off.
But that must not come without an alternative safe route, that may not be that fast but for which no tolls would have been paid,
Commitment
Ghanaians must see the commitment of government towards the reconstruction of the Accra-Kumasi highway into a two-lane dual carriageway concurrently with the development of the expressway.
Until we see that there is concrete action on the existing road, no matter the value, an expressway would be blurred because, “yeye dee ehia ansa na, yaye dee efata” since a bird in hand is really worth more than two in the bush no matter the names of the birds.
The push for the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi road before embarking on the expressway has meaning equally because many of the towns on the road will not benefit from the expressway.
They should not be abandoned because they would continue to provide a major link to Kumasi or Accra as alternative routes when the expressway comes into service.
There is no way that towns such as Anyinam, Osino, Nkawkaw, Juaso, Konongo-Odumasi and Ejisu will benefit from the expressway, but they cannot be completely ignored. That is why the completion of the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi trunk road must be a priority.
We need to see commitment and concrete action from government spokespersons beyond the refrain ” we will not neglect the existing Accra-Kumasi highway”, although nothing seemed to be happening on the bypasses under construction until the elections of December 7, 2024.
Indeed, the National Democratic Congress is enjoying relief, a form of honeymoon from the people of Ghana.
If the New Patriotic Party had won in 2024, Ghanaians would not have had the patience to watch passively for nine months as nothing happened on the Accra-Nsawam nor Kasoa-Mankessim roads between January and September 2025 that inconvenienced travellers on these roads.
I do not think there would have been peace equally about the stalled Accra-Sogakope road works either.
Until drivers on the Accra-Nsawam road threatened to demonstrate, there was lukewarm attitude from the government.
But it was not easy to pass the buck as it happened with the dualisation of the Nsawam-Apedwa portion of the road between 2009/2017 when the then Eastern Regional Minister openly stated that the previous government did not leave any money for the completion of the project, noted to have been funded from the Consolidated Fund, based on taxes collected annually.
Today, our people are not interested in which government initiated or completed what project; they are interested in what benefits they get from projects and will give praise appropriately.
So, whilst the government may not be faulted in its plans to build an Accra-Kumasi Expressway, that could generate revenue for the state, it must be assured that until there is a dependable and safe alternative which is free, there will be public outcry but that should not be construed as opposition to government.
It may be a critical and meaningful cry that whilst two may be better than one, a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush.
The sad truth is that any criticism about constructing a paid for use of an expressway without a free safe and good alternative highway is not an opposition to government agenda based on an election manifesto but a challenge to government to focus on the basic needs of the people rather than the wants of a political party manifesto.
If we have the resources to do both, then they must be done, otherwise, let us complete what exists before we move to the new.
Plea
So my plea to the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, is that whilst he wants a clear distinction to be made between an Expressway, which is a commercial enterprise, profit motivated, and a trunk road, which is for socialisation, motivated by public service, we must do what is necessary before what is pleasing.
And since all the initiatives are seen as coming from President Mahama and not the NDC as a party, even if the NDC wins power in 2028, there is no guarantee that the Expressway would be completed before the next general elections.
It could be abandoned afterwards as some projects initiated by Prof. Mills were ignored even when his Vice became President.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh