Valco-Kpone Road Deteriorates, Tanker Drivers Threaten Strike
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Valco-Kpone Road Turns Nightmare as Tanker Drivers Threaten Fresh Strike
The 7.2-kilometre Valco Roundabout-Kpone Junction road in Tema has gone from bad to worse. As of August 30, 2026, residents, motorists, and petroleum tanker drivers say there’s still no real sign of the rehabilitation work that authorities have promised for years.
What should be a quick, straightforward drive has turned into a daily ordeal and for the people who depend on this road most, patience is wearing thin.
Under normal conditions, this stretch takes less than 30 minutes to drive. These days, motorists say it can take upwards of three hours when congestion builds up.
Tanker and truck drivers, who rely on the route to move petroleum products and cargo out of the Tema industrial enclave, are bearing the brunt of it. Frequent breakdowns, rising maintenance costs, and mounting safety concerns have become part of the daily routine.
This isn’t the first time frustration has boiled over. The Ghana Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union has previously staged industrial action over this exact road, and they’re warning it could happen again if nothing changes soon.
George Nyaunu, the union’s National Chairman, put it bluntly how much longer are contractors expected to take?
For these drivers, this isn’t just about inconvenience. They’re hauling highly flammable petroleum products through some of the worst sections of road in the country, and they say the poor condition significantly raises the risk of a serious accident. According to them, similar problems plague other petroleum routes out of Tema, including roads to Takoradi, Kumasi, and Buipe.
The Valco-Kpone stretch carries heavy daily traffic from tankers, container trucks, and other large vehicles. With deep potholes and damaged sections scattered across the route, drivers are constantly forced to swerve and slow down just to get through safely.
Breakdowns happen often, eating up even more of the already limited road space. Drivers also say the road is quietly destroying their vehicles tyres, suspension components, and other parts wear out far faster than they should.
Rain makes everything worse. Once water pools in the potholes, drivers can no longer judge how deep they actually are, turning an already risky drive into something far more dangerous.
This isn’t just another local road. It runs through one of Ghana’s most important industrial and petroleum corridors, connecting major operations like the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), Tema Tank Farm, Quantum Oil, Chase Petroleum, Olam, Aluworks, Sunon Asogli Power Plant, and the Kpone Thermal Power Station.
Thousands of litres of fuel move through this corridor regularly, making it a genuinely critical piece of Ghana’s fuel distribution network. Any prolonged disruption here doesn’t just affect Tema it ripples out to businesses and fuel supply across the country.
For tanker drivers, the biggest fear isn’t delay it’s disaster. Navigating potholes and damaged road sections while sharing space with cars, motorcycles, and other trucks raises the real risk of a tanker overturning or colliding with another vehicle. Given how many petroleum and industrial facilities line the corridor, drivers worry that such an incident could trigger a fire or explosion with serious consequences.
Past complaints have already flagged trucks breaking down mid-route and containers falling off trailers. For the drivers, this has moved well past being a routine infrastructure issue it’s now a safety matter that needs urgent attention.
Businesses along the corridor depend heavily on trucks and tankers to move goods in and out. Every hour lost to congestion means higher fuel costs, more vehicle wear, longer delivery times, and fewer trips vehicles can complete in a day.
For fuel distributors specifically, delays along this stretch can slow down how quickly petroleum reaches other parts of the country a bottleneck with consequences well beyond Tema itself.
This isn’t the first time the road has been promised a fix. Back in August 2020, the Ministry of Roads and Highways cut sod to mark the start of reconstruction work. Little sustained progress followed. Government gave fresh assurances again in 2023.
There have been brief stretches where contractors carried out grading and levelling work, but the road has largely stayed in poor shape. Tema Mayor Yohane Amarh Ashitey previously acknowledged the situation, noting that a contractor had done some initial levelling but would need funding to return and finish the job.
As it stands today, residents and motorists say the road keeps getting worse, with nothing on the ground to suggest the long-promised rehabilitation is actually coming.
Years of unfulfilled promises have left residents and drivers increasingly frustrated. For tanker drivers, another strike is looking more likely by the day if the road continues to be ignored and given their role in Ghana’s fuel distribution network, such action could have consequences that reach well beyond Tema.
The message from road users has become simple and direct: they’ve heard enough assurances. What they want now is visible construction, and a finished road.
