Founder and Leader of the New Force Movement, Nana Kwame Bediako a.k.a “Freedom Jacob” has dropped details on how he’s going to fulfil his ambitious plan of connecting Ashanti region, a landlocked region in Ghana, to the sea.
Bediako had previously promised to dredge a sea to Kumasi as a way of boosting economic activities in the country.
Many Ghanaians are however skeptical about the feasibility of such a project.
During a listening tour at the University of Cape Coast, Cheddar explained his vision by referencing his childhood interest in maps and the geographical layout of Africa while highlighting the untapped potential of Ghana’s water bodies, such as the Pra and Oti Rivers.
“When I was checking the map of this country, I saw the rivers Pra and Oti. When you’re coming from Kumasi to Cape Coast, the big river is just there. It’s not connected.
“When I started this tour, I went to Techiman, then to Tamale, then to Bolga, then to Bogoso, then to Techiman. So every time I went to the room, I quickly studied the map of that region. Then I found out that there’s a river Tano in Techiman, and it goes all the way to the end of Takoradi, sharing the border with the Ivorian coast. Next to it is the sea,” he explained.
Cheddar said he was going to leverage these rivers for transportation by connecting them to the sea through dredging.
“So what we have to do is just dredge our land, let the sea merge with the water bodies, the river, and the lagoon, and start to use it as a transportation. It’s been there, but we haven’t thought of it.
“You can look at the Manchester canal, all of you can google how they dredged the sea to merge with the river for it to become that,” he said.
The proposal, which has sparked debate, aims to transform the economic landscape by making Kumasi a hub for sea transport, potentially opening up new trade routes and opportunities.
Cheddar’s plan draws inspiration from global examples like the Manchester Canal, where inland areas have been connected to the sea, suggesting a similar possibility for Ghana.
