{"id":99269,"date":"2025-10-19T10:34:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T10:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=99269"},"modified":"2025-10-19T10:34:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T10:34:27","slug":"when-roads-kill-the-10-km-nightmare-stretch-haunting-baduli-sakpe-residents-in-nanumba-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=99269","title":{"rendered":"When roads kill: The 10-km nightmare stretch haunting Baduli\u2013Sakpe residents\u00a0in Nanumba South"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 51 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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When a pregnant woman in Baduli\u2013Sakpe in the Lankani Electoral Area of the Nanumba South District begins to feel contractions, her family\u2019s first thought is not about hospital fees \u2014 it\u2019s about the road.<\/p>\n

The 10-kilometre stretch linking Baduli\u2013Sakpe and its neighbouring communities to the main Wulensi\u2013Kpandai highway has become a nightmare route that often determines whether a patient lives or dies.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

During this year\u2019s rainy season alone, at least 10 tricycles have been involved in accidents along the route, leaving several residents with severe injuries and lifelong scars. Since 2000, the short but treacherous road has been linked to the deaths of more than 10 pregnant women who could not reach hospitals in time at Wulensi, Bimbilla, Yendi, or Tamale.<\/p>\n

Once a modest feeder road, the route has now deteriorated into a corridor of pain, dust, and broken dreams. Deep gullies, loose gravel, and eroded surfaces make travel dangerous. Motorbike crashes, pregnancy complications, and lost livelihoods have become part of daily life \u2014 yet the road remains neglected despite years of promises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lost women, pregnancies, and livelihoods on this road. Sometimes, when you\u2019re rushing a sick person to Bimbilla or Wulensi hospital, you pray they survive the journey,\u201d
\u2014 Tabor Jacob, Assemblyman for Lankani Electoral Area.<\/p>\n

Communal Effort Amid Official Neglect\u00a0<\/p>\n

With little to no official support, residents have resorted to communal labour. Armed with pickaxes, shovels, hoes, and wheelbarrows, they dig gravel and fill potholes themselves \u2014 a desperate attempt to make the road at least passable.<\/p>\n

But their efforts provide only temporary relief. The gravel they dig often leaves deep pits, that worsen erosion and turn muddy during the rains, making the road nearly impassable again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for years. We fill the holes, and the rains wash everything away again. But what choice do we have?\u201d
\u2014 Assemblyman added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Road Turned Campaign Tool\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

For decades, the Baduli road has been a recurring feature in political campaigns within the Wulensi Constituency. Every election season, it symbolizes hope \u2014 and later, betrayal.<\/p>\n

With a significant voting population, Baduli and its surrounding communities often play a decisive role in determining who becomes a Member of Parliament. Yet, election after election, promises to fix the roads fade as quickly as campaign posters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery MP that comes says the same thing \u2014 \u2018We\u2019ll fix the Baduli road.\u2019 After elections, they forget us until the next campaign,\u201d
\u2014 Wajah Magaln, resident.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Taxpayers\u2019 Investments Left to Rot\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adding to residents\u2019 frustration is the sight of road construction machinery under the government\u2019s District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) \u2014 a taxpayer-funded initiative to maintain rural roads \u2014 rusting away in the open in many assembly yards across the regions.<\/p>\n

An opinion leader, Unikpel Blacky Simon Liyir, questioned why such expensive equipment remains unused while communities like Baduli\u2013Sakpe continue to suffer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government brought these machines for a reason, but they are wasting away in the assembly yard. Are Baduli and the Konkombas here not Ghanaians? Do we not deserve our share of development?\u201d
\u2014 Mr. Simon, asked.<\/p>\n

He called on the Nanumba South District Assembly, the Member of Parliament, and the Ministry of Roads and Highways to ensure equitable distribution of resources, warning that the continuous neglect of Konkomba communities only deepens mistrust and widens the development gap.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Women Bearing the Heaviest Burden\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Women \u2014 particularly expectant mothers \u2014 bear the brunt of the road\u2019s deplorable state. Travelling to health facilities in Wulensi or Bimbilla for antenatal care or emergencies on tricycles and motorbikes has led to several miscarriages and birth complications, residents say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my pregnancy because of this road,\u201d one young mother recounted. \u201cThe shaking and pain on the tricycle to navigate through the stones were too much. Before we got to the hospital, I had lost the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poor road also affects education, trade, and agriculture. Farmers struggle to transport their produce, leading to post-harvest losses, while traders spend more on tricycle or motorbike repairs, eating into their already meagre profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it rains, no one can go to market or even school. The road becomes like a river,\u201d another resident said, pointing to an eroded section.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Broader Development Challenge\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The situation in Baduli\u2013Sakpe mirrors the broader rural infrastructure crisis across Ghana. Data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicates that over 60 per cent of the country\u2019s feeder roads are in poor condition \u2014 a reality that continues to hinder access to education, healthcare, and markets in rural and peri-urban communities.<\/p>\n

Despite millions of cedis invested annually in road maintenance and equipment, progress remains painfully slow. Analysts blame weak monitoring systems, inadequate funding, and poor accountability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFeeder roads are lifelines for rural communities. Neglecting them is not just a transport issue \u2014 it\u2019s a public health and development crisis,\u201d
\u2014 a development expert noted.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Call for Accountability and Action\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Residents of Baduli and neighbouring communities are calling on the government, through the Nanumba South District Assembly and the Ministry of Roads and Highways, to urgently rehabilitate the road and deploy the idle DRIP machinery in their area.<\/p>\n

They insist that feeder roads \u2014 the arteries of rural life \u2014 must not be reduced to campaign rhetoric but treated as essential public infrastructure that sustains lives and livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Government\u2019s Response\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an interview with Graphic Online, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Nanumba South, Mr. Abdul Rashid Musah, acknowledged the poor condition of the road and assured residents that rehabilitation work would begin once the rains subside.<\/p>\n

He urged residents to remain calm and continue to support the Assembly\u2019s development agenda.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Road Ahead\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Until deliberate steps are taken to deploy government road equipment effectively, prioritise feeder roads and strengthen local accountability, communities like Baduli\u2013Sakpe will continue to pay the price \u2014 with their lives, livelihoods and futures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"WhenWhen a pregnant woman in Baduli\u2013Sakpe in the Lankani Electoral Area of the Nanumba South District begins to feel contractions, her family\u2019s first thought is not about hospital fees \u2014 it\u2019s about the road.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10791,1883,10,10792,9,1907,2539],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baduli-sakpe","category-national","category-politics","category-poor-roads","category-popular","category-regional","category-roads"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}