President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry of Transport to facilitate extension of the railway line from Tema Port to the Dawa Industrial Enclave in the Greater Accra Region, signaling government’s commitment to improving cargo transportation infrastructure while awaiting completion of the Mpakadan Inland Port on the Volta Lake. The directive, issued Monday during a meeting with organized labor, aims to operationalize freight movement and worker transportation between the port and industrial zones.
The President gave the directive during a meeting with organized labor led by Joshua Ansah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress, to address salary arrears of rail sector workers. While the primary focus of the meeting centered on outstanding wage payments, Mahama used the occasion to outline his administration’s broader vision for revitalizing Ghana’s railway network as part of efforts to reset the economy.
According to the President, the Tema Port to Dawa Industrial Enclave railway line project should be executed and operationalized to facilitate transportation of cargo from the port to the industrial enclave. The route, when completed, will also facilitate transportation of workers from the Ashaiman enclave to the industrial enclave, addressing commuting challenges for thousands of employees while reducing road congestion in the heavily trafficked corridor.
The directive comes three weeks after the Ghana Railways Development Authority commenced commercial operation of the Tema to Mpakadan railway line on October 1, marking a significant milestone in Ghana’s railway modernization efforts. Dr. Frederick Appoh, Chief Executive Officer of GRDA, announced during a working tour by Deputy Minister of Transport Dorcas Affo Toffey that the authority completed operationalization test runs about two weeks prior and was ready to reset the railways sector with the commercialization.
The 97.7 kilometer standard gauge Tema to Mpakadan line, Ghana’s first of its kind, connects Tema Port to Mpakadan on the Volta River. However, critics have argued that without a functioning inland port and lake transportation system at Mpakadan, the railway’s viability remains limited. The original concept, initiated by the previous NDC administration under Mahama, envisioned a multi-modal transportation network connecting Tema Port to northern Ghana and landlocked Sahelian countries via the Volta Lake.
President Mahama said the Minister for Finance will be appraised about the salary issue affecting rail sector workers to make allocations to clear the arrears. The commitment reflects government’s acknowledgment that revitalizing the railway sector requires not just infrastructure investment but also addressing human resource challenges that have plagued the industry for years.
The Dawa Industrial Enclave represents a critical component of Ghana’s industrialization strategy, housing numerous manufacturing and processing facilities. However, transportation of raw materials and finished goods has been hampered by inadequate infrastructure and over reliance on road transport. Extending the railway line to Dawa would create a direct freight corridor from the port, potentially reducing logistics costs and improving competitiveness for manufacturers operating in the zone.
The project aligns with Transport Minister Kwaku Ofori Asiamah’s assessment in January that his ministry inherited a non-functional railway sector. During a tour of railway facilities, he observed that most stations and workshops were in deplorable conditions, with locomotives and coaches requiring urgent rehabilitation. The minister pledged that the Mahama administration would prioritize making rail transport an efficient and reliable mode of transport for both passengers and goods.
Deputy Minister Affo Toffey has repeatedly emphasized government’s commitment to the railways sector, stating it forms an integral part of the administration’s quest to reset the economy and harness growth and productivity through sustainable rail transport. “It is the vision of President John Mahama to transform the railway sector as a major part of the resetting Ghana agenda,” she said during the September tour of GRDA facilities.
The Tema to Mpakadan railway project has traveled 17 years on the rails, symbolizing the constitutional directive for successive governments to continue and execute projects commenced by previous administrations. Originally conceived during the Kufuor administration, the project was kept alive by the Mills and Mahama regimes before being incorporated in the Railway Master Plan of 2013, which guides systematic development of the railway network across the country.
However, the project’s evolution has not been without controversy. National Democratic Congress National Communication Officer Sammy Gyamfi previously described the Tema to Mpakadan line as “a railway line to nowhere,” arguing that the Akufo Addo administration perverted the original viable concept by failing to develop the lake transportation leg. He asserted that without proper lake transport infrastructure for cargo movement to and from northern Ghana, the project’s viability would be defeated, delaying loan repayment.
The NDC government in November 2016 secured $398 million from the EXIM Bank of India for design and construction of an 84 kilometer railway line from Tema to the Lake Volta Port of Akosombo. To ensure viability, that administration began engagements for additional funds to develop the Lake Volta Port at Akosombo, facilitating easy transportation of cargo via the Volta Lake to and from northern Ghana and beyond.
The subsequent NPP administration secured an additional $48 million to extend the line by 13 kilometers from Akosombo to Mpakadan for technical considerations but did not develop the inland port infrastructure. Gyamfi noted that Mpakadan has no port, while the Volta Lake Port at Akosombo, which was supposed to be developed, remains undeveloped.
President Mahama’s directive to extend the line to Dawa appears to acknowledge these limitations by creating an interim solution that maximizes utility of the existing railway infrastructure while longer term plans for the Mpakadan Inland Port materialize. The approach reflects pragmatic recognition that industrial zones require immediate connectivity even as the grander vision of multi-modal transportation to the north remains on the horizon.
The railway sector workforce, which has endured months of salary arrears, will be watching closely to see whether government backs its infrastructure ambitions with the financial commitment needed to maintain operations and compensate workers fairly. The Finance Ministry’s response to the President’s directive regarding arrears clearance will signal whether the administration’s railway revival plans extend beyond ceremonial directives to substantive investment.
For Ghana’s industrialization agenda, the Tema to Dawa railway extension represents more than just another infrastructure project. It symbolizes a test of whether the country can finally translate decades of railway master plans and presidential directives into functioning freight corridors that genuinely enhance economic productivity rather than serving primarily as political talking points.
