Angry drivers and some traders who ply their trade in Burkina Faso have filled some potholes on the Wa to Tumu stretch of the road. On the 10th of January 2024, Ghanaian drivers, their lorry mates, and also some traders numbering over 40 ran out of patience with the government’s silence on fixing the deplorable road from Hain to Tumu and to Leo in Burkina Faso.
Against this backdrop, they hired tricycles to go into the bush in search of stones to fill some deadly potholes on the Hain to Dajan in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region. A whole day has been exhausted by these drivers, mates, and some traders scavenging for stones in the bush and filling the holes on the main Wa-Tumu to Bolgatanga road.
A journey that could take about one hour from Hain to Tumu now takes about two and a half hours to Tumu from Hain, all due to the deplorable state of the Hain to Tumu road in Burkina Faso. The people of the Upper West and Upper East Region have, in diverse ways, expressed their displeasure with the action and inaction of both current and subsequent governments regarding linking these two regions by tarred or good roads.
In an interview with the drivers, they decried the state of that stretch of road and also lamented that it cost them to change broken car parts or fix faulty cars after every journey to Leo market in Burkina Faso. According to one driver by the name of Sule Alidu, they see no reason why traders should pay money, especially to customs officers at the Tumu Border Post, as well as other state agencies.
Source: Fatawa Ayamga, Freelance Journalist
