Accra street-naming: any supervision?
The capital city street-naming caravan has at long last reached my neighbourhood! Some of us had been had been wondering when it would be our turn, because almost all the nearby streets have been sporting the new blue and white signs for some weeks, except our side of Dansoman Estate.
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However, a few days ago, alert members of my household doing the early morning school run saw that we, too, had been remembered , although they were disappointed . For, the name of our street has, inexplicably, been replaced by another, totally different.
What was wrong with our old street name, we wondered. Why didn’t the Accra Metropolitan Assembly simply write the old name on the new, white-lettering-on-blue-background signposts? Why not give names only to roads that have no names? Are names being changed for changing’s sake?
And this seems to be the pattern all over Accra.
Yet, ironically, some of the names that have become misnomers are still being maintained. Is ‘Castle Road’ still appropriate for a route that meanders through Odorna, Adabraka Official Town, past the Holy Spirit Cathedral and by the Osu Cemetery?
If in colonial times when it got that name there was a straight route from Adabraka to the Osu Castle, evidently since then there have been numerous changes hindering direct access to the Castle.
If it’s out of nostalgia, or for historical purposes, why can’t there be only one part of it that maintains the name ‘Castle Road’ while other segments are renamed?
All over the city, the blue and white signs are sprouting like mushrooms in season. New names of no immediately clear connection to the neighbourhood or its residents are being given to places that had perfectly good names people were used to; with misspellings and misnamings galore!
Some of the street names at Dansoman Estate make one wonder if somebody wanted to demonstrate a sense of humour – or they had simply run out of names.
I’m still wondering whether my eyes deceived me or I really caught sight of a ‘KPANLOGO ROAD’ and an ‘ABOBOI ROAD’. Do the people on that street dance kpanlogo all day long? Is there is a famous aboboi (beans) ‘eatery’ there?
In how many instances were the people in the areas consulted about the new name for their street? And are the abbreviations – such as ‘LP’, ‘LN’, ‘HW’, ‘LK’ and ‘HST’ – understood by all?
If a street is to be given the name of an eminent person, why not somebody who has lived there, or has some connection with that area?
I noticed with interest a ‘P.V. OBENG LN’ off the Russia Road – Dansoman Estate Road. Did Mr Obeng ever live in that area or have any link with it? Incidentally, Russia Road, a popular short cut to Dansoman, is now sporting one of the new signs as ‘OBLOGO ROAD’.
There is also a ‘GEN ANKRAH HIGH ST’, which is the new name for what we know as Sakaman, south Odorkor. But I seem to remember that Gen Ankrah lived at Asylum Down.
Interestingly, a seemingly obscure passage at Odorna is now ‘ODARTEY WELLINGTON ROAD’ – and I don’t think I saw the prefix ‘GEN’. Why leave out his rank? In any case, did the General have any association with that place?
My dictionaries tell me that ‘avenue’ usually refers to a wide thoroughfare with trees. Yet, we now have streets named ‘AVENUE’ even when they can’t boast of a single shrub!
And if the High Street has to bear the name of the late President, can’t the signs have pleasing uniformity? There are at least three versions, at different points: ‘PROF ATTA MILLS HIGH ST’, ‘JOHN ATTA MILLS HIGH ST’ and ‘JOHN EVANS ATTA MILLS HIGH ST’.
But perhaps the most bewildering, the prize-winner for confusion, is the road apparently named after Prime Minister K. A. Busia. Evidently the namers could not make up their mind whether it’s a ‘highway’ or a ‘high street’.
From the Obetsebi Lamptey roundabout towards the Kaneshie Market, a sign says ‘DR BUSIA HWY’. However, further down, the signs either say ‘DR BUSIA HST’ or ‘DR BUSIA HW’.
While the sign near the Accra Academy says ‘DR BUSIA HW’, directly opposite there is one that has ‘DR BUSIA HST’. Is it a take-your-pick game or classic indecisiveness?
But one consolation: at least the Busia name is correct and spelt right – which one can’t say about the signs honouring other dignitaries. At Apenkwa, near the overpass, I saw two signboards with ‘J.A. KUFFOUR AVE’ on them. But maybe that stretch is not named after former President J.A. Kufuor, but rather another person with the same initials.
Also, is the GAMAL ABDUL NASER AVENUE, near the Press Centre, named after President Abdel Nasser of Egypt, or there is another personality whose first name is Abdul and his surname spelt ‘Naser’?
Incidentally, is the ‘ABOSOE-OKAI ST’, at the traffic lights near the mosque, Korle-Bu road, any relation of the Abossey-Okai roundabout we know?
Nevertheless, there are positives.
It was a very pleasant surprise to notice a couple of weeks ago that the Dansoman Estate main road is now the ‘GEN ACHEAMPONG HIGH ST’. A very deserving honour, considering the role Gen Kutu Acheampong played in the initiation of the Dansoman Estate project, making it reportedly the biggest housing estate in West Africa.
But are there no guidelines for the Accra street-naming exercise? Is it being executed by different contractors left to their own devices and with little or no supervision? Why does it seem so haphazard?
And where does one get information about the rationale for selecting the names? Maybe what is needed is a web site or even pamphlets, detailing the new street names and explaining the choice. We have to live with the names so we’re entitled to explanations! No doubt huge amounts of our taxes are going into the street-naming, so we need to get value for our money!
Another issue is that as at now there is no indication that the new names are going to be used by all the other service providers, such as the Ghana Water Company, Electricity Company and the State Housing Company.
If no review is done about the implementation, the street-naming may end up with much money spent but little benefit.