Hundreds of residents of Dome-Kwabenya, Comet, Berekuso, Agyementi and Kitase have demonstrated over the deteriorating condition of the Dome-Kwabenya, Berekuso, Kitase Road, demanding urgent action to rehabilitate and complete the 22-kilometre project.
The residents said the neglect of the road, which serves as the shortest link between the Western part of Accra and Kitase, near Aburi, has also resulted in long delays, frequent vehicle damage and increased transport costs.
They said the poor condition of the road was also affecting schoolchildren, traders and businesses, with the challenges becoming more severe during the rainy season when sections became difficult to navigate.
The residents further expressed concern that emergency and health services were being hampered.
They also demanded accountability over the repeated start and abandonment of work on the road, particularly the cost to the state and questioned why the road had been listed as completed in the Ministry of Roads and Highways’ 2026-2029 Sector Medium-Term Development Plan when it remained visibly incomplete and deteriorated.
Demonstration
The Dome-Kwabenya, Kitase Road Stakeholders Committee organised the demonstration to draw attention to the deplorable state of the road, the palpable inertia over the years and the impact on residents, commuters and businesses.
After the demonstration, the committee presented a petition to the President, through the Members of Parliament (MPs) for Dome-Kwabenya, Faustina Elikplim Akurugu and Akuapem South, Lawrencia Adwoa Dziwornu.
Engagements
Speaking on behalf of the demonstrators last Monday, a spokesperson for the committee, Ransford Nana Addo, said the residents had exhausted all available channels of engagement with the relevant authorities.
“We have waited patiently and engaged the relevant authorities for more than a year. We have spoken to our MPs, the Ministries of Roads and Highways and Finance, and the contractor, First Sky Construction Ltd. Yet, the road remains in a deplorable condition. We are here today because we need action, not more promises,” he said.
Concerns
On listing the road as completed in the Road Sector Medium-Term Development Plan for 2026-2029, Nana Addo said: “We find this deeply concerning. If the Dome-Kitase Road has been classified as completed, then we respectfully ask: completed where and based on what? The reality on the ground clearly does not reflect the claims,” the committee said.
Petition
The petition said Dome-Kwabenya had the highest number of registered voters.
“A constituency of this scale and significance to our national democracy deserves infrastructure that matches its size, economic activities and contribution to the electoral process,” the petition stated.
The committee also stressed that both Dome-Kwabenya and Akuapem South voted for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 elections, “in large part due to the promises by our current MPs to fix our roads”.
It said almost two years on, the road remained in its deplorable state, a situation, it added, risked eroding the trust residents had placed in the government.
