5/16/2013

Who manages Ghana's Road Infrastructure?




It’s not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong, but not what we gain but
what we save that makes us rich, not what we read but what we remember that
makes us learned, and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity
-Francis Bacon

It is a fact that everybody expects equitable development from the powers that be, but like everyone, living the ideal life to guarantee these goodies is a terrible burden, if not a people’s coup of their own integrity.
I am appalled by the level of deterioration many beautiful projects and facilities dotted around the country, and which were constructed with colossal funds, loans, grants, and credit facilities are allowed to waste.
In fact apart from the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam and some few others dotted round the country, that is in good shape, because of a strict maintenance regime in place, the conditions of many state structures and facilities, including some new ones leave much to be desired.

The recently commissioned George Walker Bush Highway or the N1 Highway, linking the Tetteh Quashie Interchange to Mallam Junction offers a typical example. The less than a-year-old highway is already suffering some deterioration, with badly smashed metal guards that separate the roads, the fence on the edges of the road and the shameless defacing of the facility with a cluster of posters on some parts of the road are worthy of mention.

The damaged metal guard scenes at Nyamekye Junction, Lapaz, as well as those between Dimples and Dzowulo junctions, and several dents on the metal fences on the edges of the road are pitiful and frightening. The ugly scenes of these damaged portions of the fences, yet to be attended to, expose sharp edges of the mangled barricades and make travelling risky and unsafe.

Similar unsightly damages are seen on the Accra-Tema Motorway, where many street lights, as well as the metal guards shielding the underground bridges on the motorway, is smashed or knocked down through accidents. These examples are replete in other cities throughout the country.

Other facilities that require urgent attention on our roads are the numerous nonfunctional (electricity-powered) traffic lights in a country with abundant sunshine throughout the year. Some of them are out of order, having been knocked down by reckless or dosing drivers.

The worrying manner in which they go off is ample evidence that it was time our traffic lights and for that matter the streets lights are powered by reliable power sources.

A cursory look again at our roads reveals an awful effort by some Ghanaians to deface the beauty of these roads on yet another scale. One could spot some portions of the N1Highway and others, awash with a sea of a filthy assortment of belated and postdated posters of so-called men of God, politicians, and musicians, who want to breathe the air of free advertisement space.

The littering of posters and other flyers are mostly posted at night and on the inner and outer walls of the road. Even the street lights, road signposts, and footbridges are not spared in this venture.
Regrettably, lack of routine maintenance has reduced the lifespan of some of our major trunk roads, which at best have become death traps.

Who causes them?
There is no doubt road infrastructure such as the railings, metal guards, traffic lights, street lights, and roads signs are important components that decorate the roads, and aid in easy usage of the roads by vehicles and other roads users. Whereas the traffic lights regulate the free flow of human and vehicular traffic, the street lights illuminate the streets and perhaps help to reduce occasions of petty crimes committed at night on the roads.

Having said this, one wonders why such useful facilities get damaged or are knocked down and left to rot, for several weeks, months, and years unattended to. 

Often time, the question that comes to mind is who causes these damages to the furniture or contribute to defacing them. Why does nobody seem concerned about the unsightly damages or littering on our roads?
From my layman’s understanding, reckless driving, loss of control by drivers due to tiredness and dosing off the steering wheel mostly account for the numerous accidents that damage the roads railings, the street lights, and other facilities.

While the numerous non-functional traffic lights and some street lights cannot be blamed on drivers entirely, their consistent malfunctioning should warrant a close scrutiny by the technicians supposed to manage them.

Who repairs them?
Contrary to popular belief, the government must not always repair and manage its properties, even when somebody’s negligent action or inaction caused their damage, raises concerns about who should repair such damage road facilities. Certainly somebody and not the government must be made to pay for the cost of these repairs.  

In encouraging a spirit of responsible citizenship, this writer is of the opinion that culprits of such acts must be made to pay either the full cost of repairs of damages or at least 75 percent of the cost.

Elsewhere, Ghanaians who visit Europe and other countries testify about how systems work to ensure and enhance the orderliness, discipline, and a high sense of responsibility among the public. No wonder they share tales of their beautifully preserved historical artifacts, national monuments, roads, and other amenities.

Yet some of these Ghanaians with vivid accounts of what they saw and profess rather than helping to improve upon the situation, only bastardise the system here at home and often become   worse offenders of these ills.

The unanswered question is why can’t we do the same here? It is sometimes irritating to see how the very loud self-baptized “been-to” behave on our streets, in our homes, and even in public services. I am not questioning their attitude though, but rather am tempted to agree more with a friend who once described the “been-to” as only portraying the bad values of their host countries and not the positive. Could that be the true picture?

Although every good thing may not be good enough for the Ghanaian, we the people must collectively find tune some of the best practices, we observe in our tours, and sojourns of these countries to improve and make the best in our nation-building task.

Be that as it may, the concept  of making people responsible for their actions must be upheld, since it would, to a large extent, instill the spirit of discipline, decrease the number of death from road accidents, and lower the cost charged to the road funds annually for the repairs of some of these damages on our roads.

Conclusion
Since holistic development is our destination as a country, governments while ensuring that Ghana gets value on such investment in the areas of construction of roads, bridges, flyovers, and other capital intensive infrastructure should be made to institutionalize maintenance of these facilities to prolong their lifespan for our good.

Considering the huge investment in road construction, measures ought to be taken to make them last longer. However, that seems not to be the case as dozen stretches along the 14.1 Kilometer George W. Bush Highway are seriously deteriorating.

Also, steps have to be taken to ensure that the cost of repairs of damages of road furniture are borne by the drivers or whoever was involved in the accidental damaging of the road furniture. In Ghana, the fact is that a chunk all motorist have insurance coverage for their vehicles. Interestingly, in such instances  where these vehicles are involved in accidents, the third party claim which covers the repairs of smashed road railings and other dented facilities are either not being invoked or the motorists are unaware of such conditions or perhaps the authorities in-charge of our roads are not enthused  to pursue the provisions that require the insurers to pay for the repairs of the smashes, possibly because of the cumbersome nature of nuances involved with such procedures.

Moreover, it is believed that most constructions have a component of maintenance with it. This means that if there is such a clause that requires periodic maintenance of the N1 Highway and others, and the period has not yet elapsed, then it is only feasible to call the attention of the contractors to repair such damages.     

Another approach to ensure that our road furniture is in shape is through the collaborative efforts between Testing Officers at the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) and  such Mobile Transport Units or Road Task Forces charged with the responsibility of ensuring that offenders who mangle road furniture are identified and made to pay for their repairs or may be brought before  the appropriate authorities to ensure they (the offending drivers) or those who deface these road infrastructures are dealt with appropriately.

As the volume of vehicles in our cities and countries grow, and as government continues to make a huge investment in constructing new roads now and then, a lot must be done to salvage the wastage and losses on our roads. To stem this tide, it behooves the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Department of Urban Roads, and the Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs), to take measures to maintain our roads and their furniture to make them last longer.

Indeed, to grow our economy, we must deny this prohibitive culture of lack of maintenance in our nation and collectively galvanize support to work and make our country great and resilient, as well as be that gateway to a beautiful and a capable Africa.

One claim we made as a country at independence was the ability and capability of the Blackman to manage our own affairs, even better than our colonial masters. So let us be inspired by this innate ability within our hearts to do good to mother Ghana and the generation yet to come by demonstrating the will to maintain the facilities we have now.

That professing what we practice gives us integrity means the Ghana Government must adopt serious measures for regular maintenance in all facets of the economy and help preserve our past heritage and make our present developmental efforts yield the dividend we require in the future for Mother Ghana. It is possible that proper maintenance of our assets could also inspire the study of our national history, which would be more evidence-based rather than on oral tradition and generally boost the tourism industry.

Maintenance is our obligation,
It is in our interest to do it,
Together we can.

God bless Ghana.

Writer’s email: kybem11@yahoo.com
http://kwesiyirenkyi.blogspot.com

11/24/2012

The Rainstorm


Mighty winds of ancient origin
Sweep-on clean-up
Cover us with your power
Shake the leafs and leave our roofs
Bring us the rains and kiss the clouds
Walk-up to our doors
And water our toils

Pour the clean breeze on
Our shores and defuse the dust
Melt our hard stands
And reconcile us with peace
Dance away the raging lightning fears
And bless us with enduring hope, courage

O! Come Mighty rainstorms
Come refresh our tired resolves
Invite the peaceful rains
To compensate our sorry toils
And deepen our smiles.

Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng
22nd June 2010
Kalpohin SHS- Tamale

Dedicated to the people of the North in their search for lasting peace: this was during the Inter-Schools Cultural competition for Zone-2 hosted by the Kalpohin Senior High School at Tamale


A Rising Sun




As the clock ticks
I will walk

As the seconds motion
I will journey day and night

As time moves
I will move-on

As the waves prevail
I will prevail through the stormy tides

As the sun shines with its might
I will persevere and shine

As the old clock ticks-on
I shall breathe hope and inspiration

As the day ages
May God push this soul
Through the challenging tides of frailties

Walk with me Great Spirit of ages
For am weak

O! God keep me moving till
Eternity, Amen

By Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng
Sunday 12th Sept. 2010 @
Mamprobi Martyrs of Uganda,
Accra, during the re-dedication of the Church








11/23/2012

My Confessions


Some reasons defeat moral virtues
At the crossroad of my heart
Mama must hear this,
Papa must hear it too
It is a desecration of thoughts
An aberration of wisdom
Oh why?

The man can’t hear this
The Church must die to my confession
It is a holy crime
Murder of sanity
But a hope to love

The guilty must die to doctrines
That can’t escape penitential experience
May the trouble heart purge
The eavesdrops of gossips
The scenes of sinful sights
The evil wishful desires of vanity
While I keep a laud eternal silence

Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng
18th June 2009
British Council-Accra



“My Office is Prayer, a dream come true"



 Says newly Consecrated Virgin

By Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng

Martin Luther King Jnr. once noted that “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Indeed, for many Christians, prayer may seem a usual practice, but for the newly Consecrated Virgin (CV) for the Accra Archdiocese, Sr. Agatha Veronica Nah-Karley Thompson, prayer is her Office.

This means that her foremost duty as a Consecrated Virgin, who shares a spousal relationship with Christ, nourished by attentiveness to prayer, is to constantly pray for and with the Church at all times.

The insignia of her consecration are a Veil, a Ring, and the Book of the Liturgy of the Hours.

These were presented to Sr. Veronica during the solemn liturgical celebration by the Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, at the Holy Spirit Cathedral on September 8, 2010, the   feast of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is the solemn consecration that sets her apart as Sponsa Christi (Spouse of Christ), a Consecrated Virgin in union with the Church, for the rest of her life.

Srs. Genevieve, H.D.R. and Maria Josefa Petilla, (a Consecrated Virgin) were Sr. Veronica’s attendants at the Mass.

The Mass was concelebrated with Very Rev. Frs. Francis Adoboli, and Andrew Campbell, S.V.D., Vicar General of the Accra Archdiocese and Episcopal Vicar for the Religious respectively, as well as a 18 other Priests.
    
The Consecration thus bestows on her the onus to work in collaborative ministries, as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, Spiritual Director, organise prayer meetings, preside over Sunday Liturgies in areas without a Priest, Teach and work in any place designated by the Church, where her training and qualification fits in.

Sr. Veronica in an interview with The Catholic Standard Reporter Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng, expressed great joy and fulfilment in being a Consecrated Virgin, in service of the Lord.
  
The Order of Virgins (ORDO VIRGINUM), according to Canon 604.1, is an ancient form of consecrated life in the Church. “Through their pledge to follow Christ more closely, virgins are consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church, when the Diocesan Bishop consecrates them according to the approved liturgical rite.” 

Pope Benedict XVI teaches that “The Order of Virgins represents a particular form of consecrated life which has ancient roots that go back to the beginning of evangelical life when, in an unprecedented novelty, the hearts of certain women began to open to a desire to give one’s entire being to God, which had its first extraordinary fulfilment in the Virgin of Nazareth and her ‘Yes’”.

In the rite of consecration, the virgin embraces the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.  The Order of Virgins is an individual state of life lived in prayer and in service for and of the Church.

Among some early Consecrated Christian virgins were Ss. Agnes, Agatha, Lucy and Cecilia. The rite of consecration existed well before various Institutes of Religious Life and their related ceremonies of Profession of Vows.

Around the 6th Century, the Rite of Consecration for women living in the world was discontinued, but continued to be retained for Cloistered Nuns in Monasteries. The Rite is distinct from the Profession of Vows.

The Fathers   of Vatican Council II, overwhelmingly, voted to restore the Rite for women living in the world; thus paving way for its promulgation on May 31, 1970.

The life of a Consecrated Virgin is a witness to Christ, which, Pope John Paul II, in his 1996 Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata, described as “They constituting a special eschatological image of the heavenly bride and of the life to come when the Church will at last fully live her love for Christ, the bridegroom.”

Consecrated virginity, which is irrevocable, is a distinct form of Evangelical life in the Church; it is a vocation totally and completely on its own. While it is related to other forms of consecrated life, it is not identical to any of them; nor is it a stepping stone to these other forms of consecrated life. It is an individual state of life with its own particular character.

Referring to consecrated virgins, Pope John Paul II, who recognised the laity (married and dedicated single), the ordained, and the consecrated life in the Church, noted that it is a “source of joy to witness the new flowering of the ancient order of virgins, known ever since apostolic times.”

Presently, there are only two known CV’s in the country and both of them affirm bright prospects for the Order of Consecrated Virgins in Ghana.

Consecration is performed after the potential Candidate declares her intention to live as a consecrated virgin to the Diocesan Bishop. She then undergoes a period of preparation determined by the Bishop, and is usually guided during the preparatory period by the Episcopal Vicar for the Religious, in the Diocese and a Spiritual Director, either appointed by the Bishop or chosen by the Candidate.

After first professing her propositum to Archbishop Palmer-Buckle some two years ago, Sr. Veronica said Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Campbell, S.V.D., the Episcopal Vicar for the Religious in the Accra Archdiocese was very instrumental in her Spiritual preparation.

Born on 4th September, 1951, to Mr. Charles Q. Thompson, (the first Ghanaian Photo-Journalist to work at the Ministry of Information) and Mrs. Edna Abigail Thompson (A House Wife and an Entrepreneur), both deceased, Sr. Veronica is the fifth of nine Children.

Growing up in a family with a strong Christian (some being Catholics and Anglicans) background, and with a disciplined Mother, Sr. Veronica learned the Christian Values from her home.

Although she did not seem interested to enter the convent, even after many people had suggested that she should, she says “for whatever reason, I had a strong feeling that there is more to life than there seems to be, it is only that I did not feel called to live in a convent, even though I always had a strong urge and desire to getting a firm direction for an inner spiritual growth.  I knew I needed to be rooted.”

Sr. Veronica who is a Parishioner at the St. Thomas More Parish, Achimota, is a member of the Amalgamated group at the Parish.

Her hobbies include listening to good classical and sacred music, reading good books, and singing (before she lost her voice). She is a fine artist, who expresses her art through several mediums including gardening.

She is currently pursuing a Masters Programme in Pastoral Studies with the Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago, USA, and holds a Professional Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Formation from CTU and a Pontifical Certificate in Theology and Spirituality from the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin, Ireland.
  
Most of her friends who described her as being religious, confirmed her selfless role in the Parish and her willingness to help people in need.

She urges young virgins who want to serve the Lord closely to aspire to enter the Order of Consecrated Virgins.  

This article appeared in the October 30, 2010, Edition of The Catholic Standard Weekly Newspaper

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