"If birds travel without coordination, they beat each other's wing". This is a Swahili proverb that sums up the creeping dangers in Ghana's tomato trade with Burkina Faso.
It is heavily dominated by women and has drawn the righteous fury of the Ghana Mission in Burkina Faso, especially in the last few months because of the nauseating spate of accidents and the indefensible loss of lives.
Ghanaian tomato traders prefer traveling deep into Burkina Faso without co-operation in their bid to ferry down tomatoes from farm gates to marketing centers in Ghana to sell and make profit. The result: like Swahili birds, they beat each other's wings and fall to their death.
The Chronicle's investigation in the Upper East and Burkina Faso reveal the occurrence of 29 gory accidents in the last three months alone. Eight Ghanaians and 3 Burkinabes have perished and dozens have suffered serious injuries, with most of them unable to access due compensations because of lack of proper documentation on the affected vehicles.
Some victims in the most recent of such silly accidents have been ferried down from the neighbouring country to the Ridge Hospital in Accra by a couple of war-weary executives of the tomato traders association.
Tomato haulage truck drivers, apparently under the influence of drugs and in a mad rush to overtake each other and make it first to the market so they can get the juiciest offers, have often ran into ditches or collided with other trucks, especially on their way from farm gates in Burkina Faso with full loads.
The victims most often turn out to be women who are loaders or porters, and who are compelled to hang on the rails of the trucks up above the boxes like monkeys, just because no room is provided or reserved for them in the trucks by the drivers.
In the event of an accident, these women are easily crushed by the load of tomatoes even before the fall of the vehicle with dire consequences.
The paper's own investigations have indicated that there are times the women themselves request drivers to "do all they can" to "make the time", with promises of a bonus, so that traders would reach their destinations early to meet favourable market. In the end, accidents occur with grievous fatalities.
"Tell your people; if they are not interested in profit but wish to trade just for the sake of it, they had better stay home in Ghana .and not take all the risk in driving up here only to perish or make losses . The essence of trade or business, for that matter, is profit, not necessary risks and fatalities or losses." Mr. Hassan Mogtari, the Head of the Ghana Mission in Burkina Faso, in the company of other senior staff including Mr. Ebo Yankey, Minister for Consular Affairs, and Mrs. Genevieve Tsegah, Mogtari's Deputy, was addressing executives of the Ghana National Tomato Traders Association.
They had called on him to express their appreciation for the contribution the mission made in "running from hospital to hospital and pharmacy to pharmacy, and generally seeing to the conditions of injured women, and purchasing medication to assist angry Burkina Faso doctors to save the lives of teeming traders", who are perishing in their attempt to win tomatoes and make good money ahead of their colleague traders.
"Like other Ghanaians living here or doing business in Burkina Faso, we are here to seek as well your welfare and work in your interest. But I'm afraid these fatalities from your end are becoming too much and are normal. Right thinking persons ought to worry about it.
"Please accept our condolences on your own behalf and on that of the bereaved families. But just remember that we are here to help you," he maintained.
The mission's other worry had to do with the case of a Ghanaian woman who had ignored the money transfer agreements put in place by the mission and the traders' association, and used a wad of hard currency amounting to over 1,700,000 CFA francs (the equivalent of over ?30million) for a pillow, only to suffer an armed robbery attack.
The suspect was in police cells when The Chronicle last left town, whilst the robbery victim, belonging to one of the Accra markets, wrung her hands in regret at the near irredeemable loss.
Mr. Emmanuel Chegeweh, the affable but no-nonsense hardworking District Chief Executive of the Kassena Nankana District, whose district serves as a transit point for the traders, has had a hard time bringing erring drivers to order with verbal warnings and occasional threats of prosecution, but the spate of madness does not appear to abate. The errant drivers include those who are not too comfortable with documentation procedures at the Paga border post and would prefer using other points and unapproved routes, all in the attempt to race against time for profit purposes.
The tireless executives of the association working in the region to help sanitize the activities of its membership are however hopeful that with education, the traders will begin to see wisdom in organizing their activities in such a way that late or early, they would still get their due in terms of profit.
Those who perished in the accidents included a Burkinabe soldier, who was riding on his motorbike ostensibly to a near-by military base.
