By Nana Ama Gyapong.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer Protection Agency Kofi Kapito, whose real name is Kofi Owusu Hene, has pleaded with the Minister of Roads and Highways Authority, Kwasi Amoako-Atta to fix the zebra crossing infront of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
He made this plea during the headlines segment on GTV’s Breakfast show on 15th February, 2023.
A zebra crossing or a marked crosswalk is a pedestrian crossing marked with white stripes. Normally, vehicles are supposed to stop immediately they see people trying to crossover to the other side but here in Ghana, it is not respected.
Drivers actually speed off when they see people trying to cross at the zebra crossing and pedestrians have to beg their way through, due to this reason, Kofi Kapito has asked GBC to liaise with the school authorities at the St. Paul’s Lutheran School which is close to the corporation to speak to the minister of roads and highways authority to ensure the safety of the children.
He said “I’m urging GBC, collaborate with the school concerning the zebra crossing. It shouldn’t be that difficult, I have seen someone getting knocked down at that zebra crossing and the person was struggling to get up, to see a human being struggling to survive is very sad”.
“I’m begging the Minister of Roads and Highways Authority to make a call to the AMA maintenance department in charge of traffic lights or better still let them put some speed ramps there to avoid any more deaths. It is dangerous, people beg the drivers to stop for them to cross and when there isn’t an elderly person available to cross the road with, these children would have to stand for long hours until a driver finds it convenient to stop for them” he added.
The difficulty in crossing the road from one end to the other has become a bigger challenge for most people who live, school and work around GBC and the number of accidents that are caused over there are due to over speeding by drivers who do not respect the pedestrians and the zebra crossing.
A simple traffic light or speed ramp can avoid these atrocities from happening.
