A driver with Ghana’s State Transport Corporation (STC) brought upon himself anger from passengers when he blocked the backdoor of an STC bus travelling from the national capital, Accra, to the north of the country on Friday 26 May, 2023.
With the help of some young men, the driver hauled a blue drum into the stairway of the backdoor during a stopover at Linda Dor Restaurant in the Eastern Region, hours after the bus left its station in Accra.
Loaded with what was suspected to be a liquid substance and sealed with a black lid, the big drum blocked the entire corridor.
When confronted by some passengers, who feared the extra load would render the backdoor inaccessible if any emergency occurred on the hours-long journey, he only said the drum would be discharged in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.
But the drum ended up going hundreds of kilometres with the passengers on the same bus— with registration number GB 1090-20— from the Eastern Region to the STC’s main terminus in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region.
“This driver is more concerned about money than our safety and comfort,” remarked an angry woman. “God forbid, if there is any fire outbreak, or an accident, are we all going to jostle one another through only the door in front?”
Another passenger boiled: “If the normal boot compartments are full, is it a must for STC to bring in more loads to endanger the lives of passengers? What is the purpose of the backdoor? For holding loads? I can see that he took the extra load for extra cash.”
Some of the passengers were heard saying they would lodge reports against the driver and were spotted looking at a sticker pasted inside the bus for a complaint contact while punching their phone keypads with fury.
Only about a week ago, a road crash claimed several lives and left many seriously injured along the same road the STC bus was driven through hours ago.
The last week’s crash happened when a bus driver lost control after he tried to overtake another bus. His bus collided with an articulated lorry, a large fire breaking out on impact and leaving many passengers trapped on board and burnt beyond recognition.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org
