Braving the Kasoa traffic, and Central Region glimpses
A week ago, when I had to travel to the Central Region for a meeting, I dreaded the thought of experiencing the notorious Kasoa traffic congestion. Well, it being a Friday afternoon, my worst fears were more than realized.
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Being law-abiding, we were in the ‘official’ queue. However, scores of indisciplined drivers raced past us left and right, on the pavements and the sides of the road. I thought that if there had been even one police officer around, the indiscipline would have stopped immediately.
But where are the traffic police when you need them?!
The slow pace provided the opportunity for me to take note of the sights along the route, marvelling at the fast rate of development from Weija, Kasoa to Buduburam. What splendid houses! What diverse commercial activities! Then there is the veritable building boom that threatens to decouple Kasoa from the Central Region and into the waiting arms of Greater-Accra.
Thankfully, at Buduburam, the traffic madness had reduced and we could pick up some speed to make up for the lost time.
I recalled that many years ago, when I was quite a regular traveller on that highway, the Accra – Takoradi road, I always wondered why there was so little evidence of farming there, unlike the highways in other parts of the country.
Of
However,
And the Mankessim
Our return journey on Sunday, from Elmina to Accra, was enjoyably different. My fear had been that there might be much traffic, people who had spent the weekend in Takoradi or Cape Coast returning to Accra on Sunday. But I need not have worried. There was very little traffic and so it provided the opportunity to catch more glimpses of the Central Region and admire the sights some more.
Regrettably, not a single newspaper vending place did I see! True, it was a Sunday, but years ago, when Ghanaians had a reading culture, in towns and villages one always saw kiosks and tables clearly marked as newspaper sales points.
Many farms I had seen on Friday, were even more visible, vast stretches of produce, plantains trees, mostly browning corn and cassava. Even the frontage of some houses had plantains growing there!
What spoiled the pleasing picture, was that, depressingly like Accra, in practically every community or village we drove through, the surroundings were dirty. Clearly, even in these small locations people no longer care about keeping their neighbourhoods clean.
A stop at Yamoransa Junction interrupted my thoughts on the sanitation crisis in the country.
It’s a must for many people returning from a trip to the Central Region to stop at that junction, famous for its good quality Fante kenkey, and buy some. That particular type of kenkey goes by the self-explanatory, humorous nickname ‘
So we dutifully stocked up on some
I noted that, interestingly, at
Unfortunately, at Anomabo, what had been a popular rest stop,
Nevertheless, there was consolation waiting at the Winneba Roundabout. I remembered that there had been a small, but nice rest stop located just after the
To my delight, not only was it operating, it is now under new ownership and has been expanded into an attractive venue known as the ‘Dawadawa Bar and Restaurant’. Its washroom was clean, well-kept; and its garden seating looked appealing.
As indicated, the return journey was the very opposite of what we had experienced on Friday afternoon. Although the Kasoa makeshift market under the interchange was its usual bustling self, my apprehension was unjustified. Almost before we knew it, we were at the outskirts of Accra.
It seems to me that if the Kasoa traffic jams which have given the town such a negative reputation, are to cease, there will have to be an extension of the Kasoa interchange from where it currently ends, right up to Buduburam. The interchange, inaugurated in
Anyway, it appears that in the future Kasoa will become part of Greater-Accra, in the same