By: Michael Kofi Kenetey
A Krobo Youth Advocacy Group in the Krobo enclave, Kloma Hengme Association, and their sister association, Dangme Youth for Development, with support from a concerned citizen, Adolf Numo, have embarked on a massive peaceful demonstration to demand immediate action on the deplorable nature of the Somanya-Odumase-Kpong Highway.
The demonstration has become necessary after the Eastern Regional Minister, Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, failed to meet her promise of bringing back the contractor on the road, three months ago.
The Somanya–Kpong road is a critical transportation artery that links Somanya, Odumase-Krobo, and Kpong and serves as a major route connecting the Krobo area, the Akosombo, the Tema Industrial Corridor, and the Volta Region.
The road, which was last reconstructed in 2016 by First Sky Construction Limited, began to deteriorate just a few years after completion. In June 2025, the leadership of the youth groups met with the Municipal Chief Executives, MCEs of both Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo.
The MCEs assured that the government would address the problem but could not provide any concrete timeline. Kloma Hengme subsequently issued a four-week window for action, which expired on 3 July 2025, without any sign of progress.
Following additional engagements and notification of police for a public protest, the Eastern Regional Minister intervened in late July and assured the Krobo people that the government will ensure the contractor returns to the site by the first week of October 2025. However, on 14 October 2025, that assurance had not materialized, hence the demonstration.
Presenting the petition, the chairman of the Kloma Hengme Association, Isaac Tamatey Otu, appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to direct the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ghana Highways Authority to ensure the immediate return of the contractor to the site and the resumption of full-scale construction within sixty days.
He also called for the use of durable materials engineered to withstand the heavy limestone-hauling traffic on the Somanya-Kpong roads.
The peaceful demonstration started from Somanya Roundabout in the Yilo Krobo Municipality, went through the principal streets of Somanya and Odumase, and ended at the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly with a petition presented to the MCE for Lower Manya Krobo, John Martey.
Mr. John Martey, received the petition from the groups and gave the assurance that their request will be given the necessary attention, adding that already the road has been awarded to a contractor to work on the road.
Some participants of the demonstration also spoke about the disappointment in government for failing to rehabilitate the road. They reiterated that the deplorable nature of the road is affecting economic activities in the area.
