By Investigative Journalist, Kwabena Adu Koranteng
Accra, Ghana’s capital and gateway for the country’s US$4.8 billion tourism rebound in 2024, goes ominously dark after sunset on far too many streets. For residents from Ashaley Botwe to Oyarifa—and for visitors Ghana hopes to woo—nightfall often means fear.
At Ashaley Botwe Highway, Mary Aryiku, a kelewele seller, says she works with one eye on the road and the other on the shadows.
“One night, armed robbers came and took all my money at gunpoint. Because there were no lights, I couldn’t even identify them. I live in fear every evening.”
Across Adenta Housing Down, Lakeside Estate and New Legon, residents describe thieves exploiting pitch-black lanes to raid homes and strip car batteries. Solomon Kwasi Addai told me bluntly:
“Every night thieves and armed robbers invade homes. They steal cars, batteries and valuables. The whole place looks like a graveyard when darkness falls. It’s horrible and the government must act.”
From Ashiyie and Danfa to Oyarifa, Adenta Ritz, several filling stations and surrounding community areas, the pattern is the same: either broken poles, burnt-out bulbs, or long stretches with no lights at all, according to Collins Asumedu , a trader at Pantan Junction
The governance gap: who is actually responsible?
Officially, the National Policy Framework on Streetlighting places primary responsibility for providing streetlights on the Ministry of Local Government, with MMDAs responsible for maintenance once lights are installed. In practice, MMDAs are expected to collaborate with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)—but many assemblies lack the money and technical capacity to keep lights working.
The result is a bureaucratic triangle—Ministry of Energy policy, MMDA ownership/maintenance, ECG technical involvement—where accountability often gets lost. Investigations have previously shown large spending on streetlighting in Accra with little to show on the ground—dark corridors remain dark.
A vivid illustration is the Accra–Tema Motorway, where long sections have cycled between partial lighting and darkness, highlighting both maintenance breakdowns and asset-ownership disputes.
A political ultimatum—will it stick?
This week, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Ocloo , publicly castigated MMDCEs as “sleeping on the job,” issuing a two-week deadline to fix faulty streetlights and threatening to escalate non-compliance. Multiple outlets captured the directive and the minister’s rebuke.
Earlier this year, the minister also pushed for MMDAs to receive a share of the 1% streetlight levy collected on electricity bills to fund routine maintenance—an idea that, if operationalized transparently, could reduce the “no spare parts, no budget” excuse.
Why dark streets matter: safety, mobility, and brand Ghana
Crime & fear
Street darkness doesn’t “cause” crime, but it increases opportunity and lowers the chance offenders will be identified—classic routine-activity dynamics echoed in Ghana-focused robbery studies. While the Ghana Police Service has been digitizing crime data, publicly available reports still lag; historical and academic analyses underscore how opportunity structures (like unlit streets) shape urban crime patterns.
Road safety
Lighting is a frontline road-safety measure. On arterial roads and peri-urban corridors, broken lights turn potholes, stalled vehicles and pedestrian crossings into hazards.
Tourism & reputation
Ghana welcomed about 1.288 million international visitors in 2024, generating an estimated US$4.8 billion—a record. But first impressions form after dark too; repeat visitation and word-of-mouth suffer when capital-city streets feel unsafe. Seasonal initiatives like “December in GH” aim for over a million visitors—but the night-time experience must match the daytime promise.
What residents are seeing on the ground
Ashaley Botwe Highway: long dead stretches; traders vulnerable as crowds thin after 9 p.m. (Mary Aryiku’s case).
Adenta Housing Down, Lakeside Estate, New Legon: night-time home invasions and car-battery theft reported by residents (Solomon Kwasi Addai).
Ashiyie–Danfa–Oyarifa axis & Adenta Ritz area: clusters of poles with blown luminaires; some junctions pitch-black, including around filling stations.
Motorway and feeder links: intermittent lighting that fails after rains or voltage fluctuations.
Follow the money (and the maintenance)
A recurring weakness is lifecycle funding. Projects often install hundreds of poles at once, but assemblies under-budget for spares, bucket-truck time, photocells, surge protectors and vandal-resistant fittings. The Ministry’s own policy documents recognized—over a decade ago—that MMDAs “lack financial and technical resources to provide and maintain” streetlighting—exactly what residents live with today.
The streetlight levy on electricity bills could be part of the fix—if disbursement rules are clarified, funds reach the assemblies promptly, and spending is audited publicly down to pole-ID level.
What would fixing Accra’s night look like?
1) Publish a pole-by-pole register
Every district should maintain an open Streetlight Asset Register: pole ID, GPS, lamp type (LED/HPS), wattage, install date, last service date, reported faults, and ticket status. Tie this to a public dashboard to track response times (target: 72 hours for lamp swaps; 7 days for driver/ballast issues).
2) Ring-fence the levy; spend where the poles are
Earmark each MMDA’s share of the 1% streetlight levy to a dedicated maintenance account with monthly public statements (collections, spares bought, crews deployed). Publish annual audits.
3) Standardize to surge-protected LED
High-efficiency LED luminaires with surge protection and photocell standards reduce failures and power costs; unify specs across MMDAs using the National Policy Framework as the baseline and ECG as technical partner.
4) Prioritize corridors with the highest night-time risk
Use police hot-spot data (even if historical) and local reports to sequence repairs: transport hubs, markets, school zones, health facilities, and known robbery spots first.
5) Community reporting that actually triggers a fix
Adopt a single USSD/WhatsApp fault-reporting number for Greater Accra. Every report creates a public ticket; closing a ticket requires a photo of the restored light and the pole ID tag.
6) Contract for outcomes, not just installations
Shift new projects to performance-based maintenance (e.g., ≥95% lights-on compliance per zone each month), with penalties for downtime and incentives for rapid restoration.
Comparators: what peer cities do
Nairobi & Kigali have leaned on LED retrofits plus centralized dashboards to cut outages; Accra’s policy framework supports similar moves but needs enforcement and transparent funding to deliver. (General policy comparison; aligns with global urban lighting practice.)
What happens next
The minister’s two-week ultimatum is a clear political marker. Residents will judge success not by pressers but by light on poles. If the region operationalizes the levy, publishes a pole register, and enforces service-level agreements, Accra can flip from a cautionary tale to a case study—just in time for the next wave of visitors.
Sources & documents
National/ministerial policy and capacity issues on streetlighting; MMDA roles and limits.
Greater Accra Minister’s two-week directive to MMDCEs (news and broadcast coverage).
Accra–Tema Motorway lighting problems as emblematic of maintenance gaps.
Police data modernization context; robbery pattern research.
Tourism performance and targets (“December in GH”; 2024 arrivals and receipts).
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