Some residents of Awoshie, a town in the Ga-Central Municipality, Monday staged a protest and blocked sections of the Awoshie-Pokuase highway over frequent vehicular knockdowns.
The action was triggered by the death of a man believed to be in his 60s, after he was knocked down by a speeding vehicle on the highway last Saturday.
Hundreds of irate youths clad in red during the early hours of Monday blocked the road using broken down street side railings, stones and other objects, disrupting the free movement of vehicles and causing traffic for hours.
The incident attracted the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and the Formed Police Unit (FPU) to the scene, who dispersed the protesters.
The Police declined to speak to the media on the issue.
They (Police) arrested some of the protesters believed to be the leaders and removed the blockades, easing traffic.
Some of the protesters who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, blamed the authorities for inadequate flyovers, malfunctioning traffic lights and non-functioning streetlights along the stretch, which they claimed had led to frequent pedestrian knockdowns.
“Last Saturday, an old man in his sixties was knocked down by a speeding taxi. He suffered severe fractures on both of his legs, he bled profusely and died before a car could come and pick him to the hospital.
” Ever since I relocated here in 2020, I have witnessed around 47 persons being knocked down by vehicles,” Sule Alhassan, a resident, said.
Noami Sotti, mother of three, who also participated in the protest narrated how she lost her fifteen-year-old son on the highway in 2017.
“My son was knocked by a vehicle to death at Baah yard section of the road. The same thing happened to my brother. He too, had his child knocked down by a vehicle. I am on my knees pleading for an overhead to be built because we are tired of the carnages,” she said with tears.
Another man also narrated how his wife got knocked down to death two months ago along the Awoshie-Pokuase Highway.
The widower, who looked dejected, said his wife was yet to be buried.
He appealed to authorities to urgently construct footbridges at the various crossing points to avert future knockdowns.
Along the Awoshie-Pokuase stretch are several schools such as McCarthy Hills Basic School, Ordogonno Senior High School, Apostle Safo School of Arts and Sciences, Bennet International School and some Montessori and preparatory schools.
Some residents said the schoolchildren were in danger until urgent action was taken to promote safe crossing of the road.
This is not the first time the residents have staged such protests. In 2020, the death of a four-year-old boy, who was knocked down by a vehicle, triggered a similar action.
GNA