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Kassena Nankana West District road safety commitee inuagurated

A district road safety committee has been inaugurated for the Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region with the mandate to help ensure safety on Ghana’s roads in that part of the country while reducing road accidents to the minimum.

Date Created : 2/7/2024 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : PeTer Atogewe Wedam/Ghanadistricts.com

The inauguration follows a directive from the Local Government Ministry from December 2023, which falls directly in tandem with section 12 (5) and 29 of the National Road Safety Act, 2019 (Act 996) and Regulation 63 of the National Road Safety Regulations 2022 (LI2468).

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the district, Hon. Gerard Ataogye in his inaugural address said the rate at which lives are being lost to road accidents is alarming and must not be allowed to continue. He said the time had arrived for all stakeholders to come on board to fashion out the most effective way forward in curtailing the canker if not completely eradicating it.

Mr. Ataogye charged members of the committee to do their ultimate best to help salvage the situation and that his Assembly is willing to support the committee’s work in any form possible to deliver its mandate to help save lives in the district; for the overall benefit of the district’s people and Ghana at large. The DCE lamented, “When you go out there, they ride motorcycles anyhow, rickshaws (motor-kings and Cando); no rules, they don’t obey traffic regulations” and noted these are the kinds of ills on the roads the Committee must do all it can to stamp out.

The DCE agreed that it has become a necessity for his constituents to use their vehicles, such as rickshaws (Cando, motor-kings), and other vehicles for their livelihoods and to get around, but insisted that as much as the Assembly cannot ban their use, operators and handlers of these vehicles must do so in moderation and within the confines of the National Road Safety Regulations. He believes that if all the right things are done, people can survive economically without losing their lives on the roads or endangering the lives of others in the process.

He cautioned the committee not to go into hibernation after the inauguration but to immediately get to work and be able to show proof that “we were this bad with our road safety issues, and this is now where we have improved it”. “The people out there must hear of you and your actions – they will know that yes; this group is working and the group will only be seen to be working when there are visible results”, the DCE emphasized.

Meanwhile, Mr. John Quarshie, a Principal Transport Assistant with the Upper East office of the National Road Safety Authority who did the presentation on the current statistics of accidents in the Upper East Region and the functions and expectations from the Committee, warned against favouritism when members set out to work and that, anyone who flouts the road safety regulations must be handed over to the appropriate institution for action regardless of affiliations.

Mr. Quarshie disclosed that the Committee is scheduled to meet quarterly and also submit timely reports to the Regional Coordinating Council on its activities and other related matters. He pledged that his office will make available to the Committee adequate information materials and other tools that are essential to its work.

The Committee comprises 10 members including the Assembly’s representative, an officer from the NRSA, representatives from the traditional council, the Ghana Police Service, local media, the Ghana Health Service, the community, GPRTU, and a road agencies’ representative.