Sumbrungu residents demand speed ramps after two die on Bolgatanga–Navrongo highway

Residents of Sumbrungu in the Bolgatanga Municipality are demanding the immediate installation of speed ramps on the Bolgatanga–Navrongo highway after a crash on Sunday, October 25, claimed the lives of two young men from the community.

According to A1 Radio, the Assembly Member for the Sumbrungu-Azorebisi Electoral Area, Dr Elias Ayinbila Apasiya, said the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly approved a proposal to build speed ramps between Sumbrungu-Azimsum and Sumbrungu-Anaten at its General Assembly meeting on July 28, 2026. Nearly three months later, he said, no work has started and residents have been told nothing about when it will.

Speaking on Bolga FM, Dr Apasiya questioned why the item was put before assembly members for approval if there was no money to carry it out. He said the road lacks the basic features expected of a highway, pointing to potholes, too few road signs, no pedestrian crossings and streetlights that do not work, which he said make travel at night particularly dangerous. Road users, he argued, are often blamed for indiscipline when the infrastructure meant to protect them is missing.

Youth in the community, led by the Assemblyman, staged a protest after the latest deaths, 3News reported, calling on government, road authorities and opinion leaders to step in “before more lives are lost.” Residents say they had already demonstrated around June or July this year, after an earlier crash on the same stretch that reportedly killed an entire family.

Another resident, Gilbert Alolika, urged government to speed up the work and warned that the community was prepared to build the ramps itself if the delay continued.

The Sumbrungu stretch is part of the Trans-ECOWAS highway that runs from Bolgatanga through Navrongo to the Paga border with Burkina Faso, carrying heavy passenger and cargo traffic through roadside communities.

Neither report carried a response from the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly or the Ghana Highway Authority on the cause of the delay. TheSavannaOnline will update this story if they comment.

Source: A1 Radio — https://www.a1radioonline.com/84549/sumbrungu-residents-angry-over-delays-in-installing-speed-ramps-after-fatal-crashes/index.html; 3News — https://3news.com/news/sumburugu-assemblyman-youth-protest-over-deaths-of-2-young-men-on-bolga-navrongo-highway