Factbox: Three people die on the Accra-Tema motorway every month

Tema Motorway, the fastest and easiest route to Accra from Ghana’s industrial city, has become one of the most dangerous roads in Ghana.

Data acquired from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service shows that an average of three people died every month on that road in the past four years on the Accra-Tema Motorway.
In this explainer, Fact-Check Ghana presents the number of motor accidents and deaths recorded on the Tema motorway within the period.

Data obtained through a Right to Information request ( RTI) request from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service show that 136 people died on the Accra-Tema motorway in the last four years.

This means that for the past four years which is translated into 48 months, approximately three people died on the motorway every month.

These deaths resulted from 367 motor accidents on the motorway.

Accidents on that motorway, which has received more promises of development and expansion than the number of repairs since its construction in the 1960s, have also led to the injury of 354 persons.

Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of accidents, injuries and deaths recorded on the motorway from 2018 to 2021.

Data from the table above shows that the number of deaths recorded in 2018 and 2020 is 39. And though the year 2020 witnessed 105 road accidents, it also recorded 39 injuries, 111 injuries lower than the 150 injuries recorded in 2018.

The reduction in the number of accidents, injuries and deaths recorded in 2020 could be attributed to the COVID-19 restrictions which were introduced to control the spread of the disease. This restricted movement of people in the greater part of the year.

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