Ghana News Online

ACCRA IS CHOKING: WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, AND WHO WILL ACT?

Who benefits when a nation wastes hours of its life in traffic? Who profits when productivity dies on the road?

Who explains to a mother why she gets home too late to see her child—again? Who answers to the Constitution when citizens are trapped daily in gridlock? Accra is not just congested. Accra is being strangled by inaction.

What we are experiencing is not an act of God. It is not fate. It is not inevitability. It is policy failure, enforcement failure, and leadership failure.And the consequences are grave.

People are losing productive hours every single da. Fuel is being burnt into smoke while incomes shrink. Stress, hypertension, and anxiety are rising—this is now a public health crisis.

Emergency services are delayed. Students arrive late to lectures. Workers are exhausted before they even start work. Businesses bleed quietly.Families suffer silently.

The Ghana Institute of Engineers estimates that Ghana loses nearly 2 billion dollars every year because of Accra’s traffic—through lost productivity, fuel wastage, and health complications. Two billion dollars. Let that sink in.Now here is the most painful part.

According to the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), the State already paid about €2 million—roughly GHS 35 million—for a National Special Development Framework to fix this very problem.

The plans exist.The road networks exist. The solutions exist. What is missing?

ENFORCEMENT.

On 15th January 2026, Head of Plan Preparation, Mr. Benedict Arkhurst of Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority stated clearly: Accra’s gridlock can be significantly reduced in 90 days—not with new flyovers, not with fresh loans, but with decisive administrative action.Ninety days.

By piloting a high-capacity arterial bus system on the most congested corridors—Madina–Adenta,Kasoa–Mallam,Tema Motorway—and by enforcing lane discipline, clearing unauthorised trading from roadways, and managing existing space properly.This is not theory.

This is not guesswork. This is not expensive. So the question must be asked plainly:Why are we not acting?

The 1992 Constitution does not permit this paralysis. Under the Directive Principles of State Policy, the State is obligated to:• promote the well-being of all citizens;• ensure reasonable access to public facilities and services;• provide for free mobility of people, goods, and services;• manage the economy to secure the maximum welfare, freedom, and happiness of every person;• safeguard health, safety, and productivity;• and crucially, to continue and execute viable programmes inherited from previous governments.Traffic gridlock violates these principles—daily.

When a citizen spends four to five hours in traffic, the right to work, the right to health, and the right to family life are all quietly eroded.This is no longer a transport issue.

It is a constitutional issue. It is a governance issue. It is an economic justice issue. The State cannot keep asking citizens for patience while ignoring solutions already paid for with public funds.

Leadership is not about endless planning. Leadership is about execution.If enforcement can ease congestion in 90 days, then every additional day of delay is a choice—and a costly one.

The Ghana Interest therefore says this, plainly and respectfully:

It is in the interest of the State.It is in the interest of the economy.

It is in the interest of public health.

And it is in the interest of the Ghanaian people to fix Accra’s traffic—urgently, decisively, and now. Enough of the gridlock. Enough of the excuses.Enough of wasting lives on the road.

This is The Ghana Interest. And Ghana deserves better