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In 1964, the opposition fiercely criticized Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President and founding father, when he initiated the construction of the Tema Motorway.
The project, designed to link Accra with the port and industrial hub of Tema, as well as serve landlocked neighbouring countries clearing goods through Ghana, was dismissed as a wasteful use of scarce national resources. The opposition went as far as instigating the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to demonstrate against Nkrumah.
Yet history proved Nkrumah right. For decades, the Tema Motorway, stood as Ghana’s most durable, efficient, and safest stretch of road, an infrastructural benchmark unmatched even during periods of repair or reconstruction.
Today, the nation is witnessing a similar script unfold, this time aimed at President John Dramani Mahama’s vision to construct a modern expressway between Accra and Kumasi.
The current Accra–Kumasi corridor, has long been one of the most accident-prone routes in the country. Beyond issues of over-speeding and reckless overtaking, the single-lane configuration contributes significantly to frequent head-on collisions.
Like the Tema Motorway, the Accra–Kumasi route is highly strategic. It not only links the south to the northern parts of Ghana, but also serves as a key transit route for neighbouring countries.
Despite this, the Minority in Parliament, led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has dismissed plans for a new expressway as unnecessary. They argue that resources should instead be directed toward completing the ongoing dualisation of the existing highway.
One would have expected that, by now, the opposition would have learned from its own political tradition, one that once resisted the transformational vision of Dr Nkrumah. Unfortunately, the reaction to the Kumasi Expressway project, suggests no such lessons have been absorbed.
The parallels are clear. From the Tema Motorway to the proposed Accra–Kumasi Expressway, the pattern of resistance from the United Party (UP) tradition is unmistakable.
The message to Ghanaians is equally clear: this political lineage has repeatedly positioned itself against forward-looking national development. Expecting bold, visionary progress from them has consistently proven futile.
The post Opposition criticism: Nkrumah had the Tema Motorway; Mahama has the Kumasi Expressway appeared first on The Herald ghana.
