‘Avoidable deaths on our roads senseless, government must intervene’ – Otabil

The Head Pastor of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Dr. Mensa Otabil has said Ghanaians cannot continue to die in what he described as senseless accidents on the country’s roads.

According to him, he cannot fathom why ‘innocent’ lives continue to perish in what he termed as ‘hazardous’ travelling.

He, therefore, wants the government to immediately initiate steps to ensure that the country’s roads are safe to prevent such avoidable deaths.

Just last Friday, two fatal accidents involving commercial buses at Kintampo and Mankessim saw more than 60 people lose their lives with several others injured.

While lamenting the deaths during a sermon today, Dr. Otabil indicated action needs to be taken to save the lives of Ghanaians.

“The sad thing is lives have been lost; people -parents, children have died and people have lost their dear ones in a very senseless way. There is no need for anybody to die on the road. Ghana is a very small country, why should travelling be hazardous – it is not good, and we shouldn’t allow that to happen.”

“Our leadership should take note of that and not just talk about it but really do something and intervene. When we hear that people have died, it should be unavoidable that nothing could be done and not when someone is innocently travelling on a journey”, he added.

Last Friday, over 50 passengers died in an accident involving two buses on the Techiman-Kintampo road.

Several of the passengers in the bus were burnt beyond recognition with others in the other bus dying on the spot.

Many others with varying degrees of injury were rushed to nearby hospitals for medical attention.

On the same day, 10 persons were confirmed dead, with several others injured in an accident that occurred at Ekumfi Dunkwa on the Winneba-Cape Coast Highway.

Indiscipline, reckless driving cause of road accidents – Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has attributed the increasing number of road accidents in the country to indiscipline and recklessness on the roads.

According to him, the non-prosecution of reckless drivers is also a major cause of the problem.

In a Twitter post following two separate fatal crashes that occurred in the country on Friday with more than 60 people reportedly dead, Jerry John Rawlings called out regulatory bodies and stakeholders within the transportation space, urging them to “wake up.”

Source: citinewsroom.com