The Ghana Railway Development Authority has announced that the government will not bear the cost of over $2 million for repairing the newly procured train involved in an accident on the Tema Mpakadan rail line.
According to prosecutors in the case, an examination conducted by the train’s manufacturers revealed that the damages are valued at $2,138,466.86.
During a test run on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line on April 18, 2024, the recently acquired train was involved in an accident in the Asuogyaman district of the Eastern region.
In an interview, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Railway Development Authority, Yaw Owusu said the government will not pay for repair works.
So basically the train was under test before the train was going to be handed over to the government of Ghana. At the point of the accident, the train had not been officially handed over to the government of Ghana. Also, the train was fully insured by the supplier and the manufacturer.
So it was going to cost the Ghana government absolutely nothing because officially it had not been handed over to the government of Ghana. Whether it was the repairs or the replacement of the train, it will cause the government of Ghana nothing,” Mr. Owusu explained.
He continued: “Yes, two million is a huge amount of money and as I said, even though it’s a huge amount of money, the train was fully insured by the manufacturer and supplier and therefore the government is not responsible for any other two million dollars that is going to cost to repair or replace any damaged part of the train.”
Abel Dzidotor, the driver allegedly responsible for the train accident during a test run on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line on April 18, 2024, has been sentenced to a six-month jail term.