The prosecution in the Tema-Mpakadan train accident case has informed the court that repairing the train would exceed $2 million.

As per the prosecution, the manufacturers of the train assessed the damage, which was valued at $2,138,466.86.

Additionally, four more individuals were arraigned at the High Court in Accra and remanded for aiding in the unlawful damage related to the train accident at Tema-Mpakadan.

The four individuals—Kokuo Koudjo, a gas welder, Patrick Kwaku Sosu, Alaza Prosper, and Fiadugbe Emmanuel, a laborer—were charged with abetting the accident.

The Prosecution said that on the same day, the Ghana Railways Company management, along with the complainant and 28 engineers from Ghana and Poland, conducted a test run of the new DMU 001 train from Tema to Mpakadan.

She mentioned that the test run had been announced in advance, and when the train reached the Abotia area, it collided with a Hyundai Gold truck that was stuck on the railway tracks.

Both the train and the truck were damaged.

“The train was sent to Tema for examination, while the scrap of the vehicle, which was damaged beyond repairs was taken to the Juapong police station for further action,” she stated.

Convict

She informed the Court that on April 19, 2024, the driver, Dzidotor Abel, was arrested and brought before the Circuit Court in Juapong, overseen by His Honour Proper Deu-love Gomashie. Abel pleaded guilty to three out of four charges.

He was then convicted and sentenced to six months in prison.

According to the 2023 World Drug Report, around 296 million individuals used drugs at least once in 2021, with about 39.5 million of them experiencing substance use disorders (SUDs), and only 15 individuals with SUDs receiving any form of treatment.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that approximately 3.1 million people were detained worldwide in 2020 for drug-related offenses, with 61 percent of these arrests being for drug possession for personal use.