Greater Accra Regional Minister Hon. Linda Ocloo has insisted that she has delivered on her promise to fix 70% of streetlights in the capital within her first 50 days in office, despite a wave of cable and photocell thefts threatening the progress made.
The minister said 85% of the targeted areas have now been covered, although challenges remain on several major roads due to budget constraints and theft-related setbacks.
“I think within the fifty days, I met my target. I mean, we were able to fix the lights on 128 streets. And afterwards, again, we’ve done about 30 streets in addition”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
Hon. Ocloo, who assumed office earlier this year, made the pledge on February 4 to fix the majority of malfunctioning streetlights in Accra within a 50-day window.
In assessing her performance on the matter, she declared that she had not only achieved her target but exceeded it. According to her assessment, this puts the regional achievement at nearly 85%.
However, she was quick to highlight that recurring acts of vandalism are reversing some of the progress.
“The entire stretch of Okponglo is off. I went with people from roads and highways to go and check the place and we noticed that some of the cables had been stolen, and the photocells that light the bulb too had also been stolen”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
She cited this as a significant barrier to maintaining improvements, and pointed to the scale of financial pressure required to restore affected areas. “The budget is so huge to the extent that we have to fall on NGOs to see if we can fix those places.”
Construction Works
Focusing on the remaining dark stretches like the President’s road, the N1 Highway, and other key corridors, Hon. Ocloo stressed that many of these areas were still under construction and therefore could not yet be fitted with lights.
“I’m very much aware of some roads that don’t have functioning streetlights. All street lights on roads that are under construction cannot be fixed until those roads are completed and handed over”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
In the case of the N1, she clarified that the absence of lighting was not due to government inaction or neglect.
“For these roads, the light was intentionally removed. Because the pavements on those stretches are being worked on, the lights have been removed. It’s not that the street lights are not working”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
Contradicting Claims
Despite the minister’s confidence in her office’s figures, residents and journalists continue to report widespread outages in areas the Regional Minister claims were already fixed. Challenged about Pokuase and Ablekuma, Hon. Ocloo said she would follow up.
“I mean, I saw a statement made by Franklin Cudjoe, praising me that the lights are on, so I’m yet to go there and see for myself what you just said.
“But per my records, the Pokuase area was fixed and so I don’t know what has happened. I have to revisit the place”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
She encouraged the public to report any dark areas, assuring that responsive action would be taken.
“That is why I want people to give me feedback on all those stretches where the lights are off – places where the lights are not on… so that we can work on it. If they can help me by giving me the areas that are off, I can assure you that within some weeks, they will be fixed”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
In response to the specifics on which areas were still without light per her assessments, Ocloo declined to provide a list, citing her unavailability at the time of the interview.
“If you revisit my statement, within the fifty days, I mentioned all the streets that have been lighted. I don’t have the figures here with me but I mean, in subsequent interviews, I can let you know the streets that have been lit”
Hon. Linda Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister
Despite the challenges, the Regional Minister stood by her record and reaffirmed her commitment to improving public lighting across the capital, urging collaboration between citizens, government, and development partners to protect and extend progress made under her watch.
READ MORE: Ghana Aims to Lead Africa’s Energy Transformation
