Drivers in and around Hohoe in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region are appealing to the government to fix the ever-deteriorating roads within and around Hohoe. According to them, they have complained to the government more than twenty (20) times, all to no avail.
Speaking to our news team in an interview at Hohoe, Secretary to Branch 1 of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Apostle John Quaquo described the roads; in the Hohoe enclave as dangerous and called on the government to immediately act to fix the road network.
The now northern Volta Region town of Hohoe is an important educational and business community on the famous Easter Corridor road.
(TERESCO) and St. Francis College of Education (FRANCO), second cycle schools like the Hohoe E.P. Senior High School (HEPSS) a Special School for the Deaf, a Government Municipal Hospital, a Secretarial School or College, government and private basic schools as well as a host of other institutions and agencies including the Volta and Oti Regional Office of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) as well as a unit of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), located in the heart of Hohoe.
Hohoe, at one time, served the then Volta Region including the current Oti Region as Regional Capital before it was moved to Ho later. This accounts for the busy and commercial status of Hohoe, coupled with its strategic location as a stop-over point along the Easter Corridor road and space.
Currently, Hohoe, which is also the municipal administrative capital, plays host to the Northern Volta Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), banks, credit union offices, markets, ongoing construction of a state-of-the-art sports stadium and indeed several hotels and restaurants because of tourist attractions in the area such as the Wli Waterfalls at Wli, Mount Afadza (Afadzato) at Gbledi, Tagbo Falls, Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary as well as the Amedzofe Waterfalls and Canopy Walk facilities, just to mention a few.
The population of the Hohoe Municipality, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, was 167,016 representing 7.9 percent of the total population of the Volta Region. It comprises 52.1 percent females and 47.9 percent males.
But in recent years, the main Hohoe town and all its outskirt roads have seriously deteriorated. The Eastern Corridor road that connects Hohoe from Golokuati in the Afadzato South district through Ve Koloenu, has become terrible. The roads from Golokuati through Fodome Hellu to Hohoe or from Alavanyo through Gbi-Wegbe to Hohoe, have become very deplorable, creating a nuisance not only for drivers but also pedestrians and other road users.
The least said about the roads from Hohoe to the newly created Guan District, the better. Roads from Hohoe to communities like Lolobi Ashambi, Likpe Abrani, Likpe Kukurantumi, Likpe Bakua, and Likpe Bala as well as Kute, just to mention a few, have been in very deplorable conditions for several years.
The other stretch from Hohoe through to Santrokofi Benua and Santrokofi Bume before hitting the asphaltic overlay road to Jasikan has become a serious headache for drivers, some of whom have resorted to using rickety vehicles that have safety and health implications for passengers and other road users.
The Hohoe Branch 1 Secretary of the GPRTU, Apostle John Quaquo asked in an interview with our news team whether it is a crime to come from the Volta Region as a citizen. He expressed frustrations at the situation and urged the government to fix their roads urgently.
Apostle Quaquo noted that the roads in the Hohoe area have become dangerous, making it very difficult for their drivers to reach Accra and other destinations.
According to him, even though Hohoe to Accra is 240 kilometres, their drivers for instance do more in addition to burning more fuel because they have to reroute their journeys through Fodome Hellu and Kpando before getting to Accra.
‘We are suffering from maintaining our vehicles’, the GPRTU Branch 1 Secretary lamented, adding that they have complained to the government more than twenty (20) times without getting any positive results.
Other drivers our news team also spoke with, lamented that because of the situation, they are finding it extremely difficult to buy the already high cost of spare parts to maintain their vehicles.
