For daily users of the Spintex Road, what should be a simple Sunday drive is now an exercise in endurance and patience. Many users can attest to how parts of the road are blocked due to ongoing church services on certain portions of the road.
For a daily user, such as Dr. Kwabena Donkor, the former MP and former Minister for Power, it has become a weekly test of patience, productivity, and sanity.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Dr.Kwabena Donkor paints a vivid picture of a road system slowly slipping out of order, and where private convenience is increasingly overriding public interest, often with the tacit support of enforcement authorities.
He notes that what happens on the Spintex Road is just a fraction of the huge deficit of public order, especially on Ghana’s roads, across the country.
A Road Half-Closed, An Economy Half-Working
He narrates to The High Street Journal that on the newly expanded Spintex stretch, popularly called the “Mahama Road Extension”, a troubling routine has taken root. Every Sunday, two lanes of a four-lane dual carriageway are blocked off to accommodate church activities.
The result is predictable congestion on a road designed to ease traffic into one of Accra’s busiest residential and industrial zones. But beyond inconvenience lies a deeper cost.
Time lost in traffic translates directly into lost productivity. For instance, businesses relying on weekend logistics, deliveries, retail movement, and informal trade face delays. Workers spend longer hours commuting, reducing efficiency and increasing fatigue.
In a city already grappling with congestion, deliberately reducing road capacity for private use raises uncomfortable questions about priorities.
“On Sundays, for example, the police block one side of the dual carriage. There are four lanes. They block two lanes on Sundays because some churches worship along that road. Where in the civilised world do we have that? Churches are expected to have their car parks. That must be a requirement.,” he lamented.
From Occasional Disruption to Institutionalized Practice
He further points out that road closures for funerals, religious gatherings, and social events are no longer rare occurrences; they are becoming normalized.
What was once an exception is now routine. He therefore cannot fathom the most concerning part when enforcement agencies play a role. According to Dr. Kwabena Donkor, police officers are not just aware of these disruptions; they actively manage them, erecting barriers and redirecting traffic.
This blurs the line between regulation and complicity, creating a system where rules appear negotiable depending on circumstance.
“When you see the police using their metal barriers to block two sides of a four-lane road, that means there is something seriously wrong. Permanently, for private use, every Sunday. It is the best expression of how much we have lost control. In other areas, whole streets are blocked off for funerals. So when it comes to our mindset, you wonder what exactly is wrong with us. You block roads on a regular basis. It is not a happenstance,”
The Siren Craze
If blocked roads are one side of the problem, the unchecked use of sirens is another. He further notes that across Spintex and other major roads in Accra, sirens have become the soundtrack of daily commuting.
Military vehicles, police cars, and even non-operational government vehicles routinely use them, often without emergency justification. For him, what should signal urgency has become a symbol of privilege.
The effect is more than just irritation. It creates a hierarchy on the road, where certain drivers can override traffic rules, forcing others aside regardless of circumstance.
Even more striking is the spread beyond core security services. He cannot fathom why public agencies such as the Ghana Revenue Authority, immigration, and others are increasingly cited for using sirens in routine, non-emergency situations.
He is therefore worried about this dilution of purpose, which he argues has serious consequences.
“Today, if you live on the Spintex Road, almost every three out of ten vehicles using Spintex Road come with a siren. You find virtually all military vehicles using sirens and ignoring road traffic, trying to push us off the road,” he recounted.
He added, “And it is not just the military. Police vehicles. Increasingly, a number of four-wheel drives are using sirens. I can understand national security apparatus has some four-wheel drives. I can understand organisations such as NADMO in emergencies are authorised to use sirens. But today, even the GRA, fire service, immigration service, name them. And these are staff vehicles, not operational vehicles.”
When Emergencies Lose Their Meaning
The overuse of sirens carries a subtle but dangerous psychological impact. Dr. Donkor warns that when every vehicle seems to be in a hurry, genuine emergencies risk being ignored.
Drivers become desensitized, slower to react when it truly matters, whether it’s an ambulance rushing a patient or firefighters responding to a crisis.
In effect, the system undermines itself.
Private Enterprise on Public Roads
Perhaps the most striking example of private use overtaking public space, according to Dr. Donkor, is the behavior of bullion vans. These privately operated vehicles, contracted by financial institutions, now dominate sections of the road with aggressive use of sirens, often pushing other road users aside.
Yet, as Kwabena Donkor points out, many of these vans are meant to be armored, following directives from the Bank of Ghana after a series of high-profile robberies.
If properly secured, the argument for urgency weakens. Instead, what emerges is a business model operating with quasi-emergency privileges, raising questions about regulation, fairness, and road equity.
The Cost Beyond the Road
The economic implications of this indiscipline are far-reaching. It reduces productivity as longer travel times erode working hours. It also increases business costs as delays affect supply chains and service delivery
There is also the impact on investor perception. Disorder in basic systems like traffic management reflects broader governance concerns.
But beyond economics lies a social cost, a growing sense of disorder, where rules are inconsistently applied, and public systems feel increasingly unpredictable.
Restoring Order Before It’s Too Late
The concerns raised by Dr. Kwabena Donkor highlight a pressing need for a reset. He is calling on the appropriate institutions, such as the MTTD, the Highways Authority, the Road Safety Authority, etc., to step up efforts to bring sanity to roads.
He also calls for clear rules, consistent enforcement, and a reassertion of public interest over private convenience to be essential.
Because in the end, roads are more than physical infrastructure; they are arteries of economic activity and symbols of societal order.
