Careless Driving On Our Roads

By Ekua Kwansema

It is increasingly becoming a common feature in Ghana that when glaring human errors lead to multiple road accidents or other calamities we have always attributed them to unseen forces or sins against God by Ghanaians. As a result, anytime we witness series of road accidents some so-called prophets of doom have cashed in to put the fear of God in Ghanaians. And each time such incidents happen people tend to grossly ignore what actually contributed towards such spate of incidents or accidents.

Unless you have never traveled on the newly constructed Kasoa/Cape Coast Road you would believe some of the garbage that these men and women of God spew on Ghanaians to gain national attention or prominence. Ever since the new road was constructed it has witnessed spates of accidents leading to the loss of several lives.

In fact these accidents that started happening long before the NPP government left office continues today. It is not that it just started happening when President Mills assumed office. However instead of genuine citizens critically analyzing the situation to determine the root cause of the accidents, they have allowed some people to jump into the conclusion that the accidents were related to some juju taken by some politicians to solidify themselves or their positions. How sad.

Accra today is simply throttled with huge traffic everyday. As a result, both passengers and drivers burn with stress every single day. And this situation is going to be with us unless the Mallam Road which connects all the way to Tetteh Quashie Interchange and continues from Ghana Standards Board through Adenta is complete. Anybody who has taken public transport from Kaneshie to either Cape Cost or from Tema to Takoradi can attest to the fact that sitting in that huge slow moving traffic is not funny at all. As a result, when the drivers pass Kasoa all what they tend to do is to make up for the lost time they spent in traffic by making unnecessary and dangerous over takings without considering the consequences.

Anybody who has traveled on that road can attest to what I am saying. I am not making this issue up. Its simply the truth. The spate of the serious accidents that we have witnessed and continues to witness on the Kasoa/Cape Coast road is largely due to careless driving and not due to any perceived juju by some politicians or some Ghanaians. Period.

This is not to deny any Ghanaian the right to pray to God for road safety. But I was struck and dumfounded when Mrs. Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie who has the penchant to glow in the spotlight when she gets the least opportunity, organized an intercessory prayer with her Aglow International Ministries for the nation following the recent wave of road accidents.

Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie was reported by Joy FM to have stated that if some politicians or some Ghanaians have gone for any juju and have been asked to produce human blood for sacrifice, they should desist from the act and pray to God for forgiveness. In the first place does Gifty know of any politician who has gone for juju? Does Gifty know of something that the rest of the nation does not know? And if some politicians have gone for juju what was their motive?

I personally find it extremely insulting and difficult to buy this crap. For a long time now, some Ghanaians have tended to play on the minds of good thinking Ghanaians by making unfounded allegations and attributing them as coming from God. I wish Gifty and her team of ‘prayer warriors’ would take a bus ride from Accra and travel to Cape Coast just twice next week and critically examine what happens on that road. I bet the heart of the ‘prayer warriors’ would jump every two to five minutes before they reach their destination. And I can bet my one new cedi that after the trip they would be wiser and know exactly what is happening on that road.

Of course we all need God in our lives. And we all need God’s intervention to help Ghana to move forward. A nation at prayer is far better than a non-praying nation. But I would want Christian leaders like Gifty to spend more of their time to pray and educate Ghanaians about greed, crime and child abuse in our society today. That would greatly help the country to move forward. We have passed those days when every old lady with one tooth left in our homes is branded a witch.

Ghana needs to move on. And we cannot move on when human errors that need to be fixed are branded as punishment from God or perceived juju. I am happy that President Mills has stepped up to ensure that something is done to curtail the spate of the accidents on our roads. What we need to do is to put more policemen who have the country at heart at vantage points on our highways to check the reckless over speeding and dangerous over takings by these drivers. I also entreat passengers who are always put at risk when these drivers make those dangerous maneuvers to voice their concerns. Most of the time these passengers have tended to approve of what these drivers do which is why they continue to do what they do on our roads. Gifty, in view of the explanation I have provided, I think you went over the top by falsely accusing some politicians of going for juju. Unless you have proof, please find something better to do with your spare time other than trying to glow in false accusations.

ekwansema@yahoo.com