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Many Ghanaians, especially residents of Accra, are yet to adjust to the good news that roads and streets that lead to their numerous homes are named, almost a year after Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), met the September 30, 2014 deadline by President John Dramani Mahama, to have the street-naming and property-addressing project, carried out to enhance movement and revenue collection.

The directive by the president, which was lauded by many, aside helping local authorities to execute their mandate in a well structured and mapped environment, would aid security agencies like the police, fire service and others, to combat crime, fire and disasters effectively.

Addressing the opening of an orientation programme for MMDAs last year, president Mahama charged the MMDAs to meet the deadline.

“You are drivers of development and change in your districts and that is why I don’t understand why our streets have still not been numbered.

The extent to which MMDCE’s will continue to stay in office will depend on how diligently you apply yourself to the street naming and house numbering exercise,” he stressed.

The streets have been named after persons dead or alive, who have contributed to the development of the Municipality. Some roads, have also been named according to the towns or places they lead to.

In what had become a way of life, unlike properly structured countries such as United States, Ghanaians, did not have proper way of directing visitors and strangers, except the old system of using buildings, shops, joints, pubs, and if one is lucky, to live in an area where there is a major landmark, it is used as point of direction.

The situation had become so embarrassing that, Ghanaians made jokes out of it on national platforms.

But almost a year after the president in his own wisdom, decided to correct this phenomenon; residents say nothing significant has changed.

Attempt by The Herald, to know whether or not the decision to change a very old tradition has yielded any result, many of them say they are yet to familiarize themselves with the laudable initiative.

Admittedly, some of these residents said, even though they have the luxury of these streets boldly named, they still struggle to remember how they are called, because they have not paid serious attention to them.

Some of the residents, who were interviewed in a group or individually said, though they are aware their streets have neatly been named, by their respective assemblies, they are comfortable with the old system.

The situation was so bad that, even in some cases; the most educated were given out, as they struggled without success to mention them correctly. While, some of the interviewed, regretted their inability to mention off hand names of their streets, others saw nothing wrong with it, as they said, that was the typical Ghanaian way
of life.

A good number of them, who lauded government for the project, asked that the second phase of the exercise which includes, numbering of houses should be hastened to complete the process.

One Bernard Obeng Mensah, told this reporter, he was so familiar with the old way of directing people that, though he was aware his street has been named; he hasn’t found it necessary to take notice of it.

A resident from New Gbawe, however, was able to save himself unlike five others he was with who had no clue the names of their streets.

The young man, who gave his name only as Francis, mentioned that the street that leads to his house, has been named by the Ga South Municipal Assembly as “After Church Road”.

From the interview conducted, it was realized that, most people were aware of the various streets that have been named, but they were yet to accept that they do not need to continue the old system of directing people to places.

According to reports, the first phase of the project which involved mapping, capturing of streets and buildings, have been completed while data collected, are currently being analyzed by assemblies, which would guide them to map out strategy to increase revenue collection.

The question being asked is that, did government just pump money, time, and resources into the project for nothing? For instance in the Volta Regional capital Ho, the Municipal Assembly in the run up to the exercise told the media the Assembly was spending GH¢ 1.4 million, and that one sign-post was going to cost the Assembly GH¢ 700.

During the launch of the National Urban Policy Framework and Action Plan in March 2013, President Mahama, directed the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development at the time to ensure that, streets and roads were named within 18 months.

In November 2013, the President gave an ultimatum to metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to complete the street-naming and house-numbering exercises in their respective areas or lose their jobs by September 2014.

The implementation of the exercise is guided by the National Street-Naming and Property-Addressing Policy, and the National Operational Guidelines on Street-Naming and Property-Addressing System.