Motor accident rate in Ghana is high with about 1,300 deaths and 10,000 injuries annually on the road. Between 1993 and 1997, 7,170 people died in road accidents, 29,837 sustained severe injuries and 28,508 sustained slight injuries.

The Acting Roads and Transport minister Mr Steve Akorlie, Monday gave these statistics when he announced that a fence would be constructed around the Accra-Tema Motorway to block all unauthorised roads. He was commenting on a fatal motor accident involving president Jerry John Rawlings on Sunday in which four of his bodyguards were killed. The president and his wife sustained slight injuries.

The minister said there would also be police patrols to prevent unapproved access to the high-speed road. An alternative parallel service road, which will link certain important points such as Tetteh Quarshie Circle, East Legon and Ashaiman, is under construction, the Minister told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra.

The 18-kilometre road, costing 15 billion cedis, would be ready for use by next year. It will mainly serve residents along the motorway. Akorlie said: "Two months ago, we discussed the re-fencing of the motorway at a meeting of the Road Funds Board. When we visited the site of the accident this morning, we decided that the motorway should be fenced to serve its original purpose as a high-speed road and make its use safe."

He said: "the main cause of yesterday's accident was the indiscipline of a driver who entered the motorway from an unapproved road without regard to other motorists. The human factor in preventing accidents is very important."