‘Proposed street names do not reflect Ga history’

The Ngleshie Alata Noyaa Mantse, Nii Ayi Krotia I, has expressed dissatisfaction with proposed names by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for some streets in the Greater Accra Region.

He said some of the names did not match the streets, not much attention had been  given to the history of the Ga State in coming up with those names and not much consultation had taken place between the AMA and the traditional authorities on the matter.  

In an interview in Accra, Nii Krotia described some of the proposed names as incongruous, citing, for example, proposed names such Denkyira and Dawu for roads in the Kpehe area.

Ga History

“The Ga people have a history. They had their history before they gave land to migrant settlers on the fringes of Accra. If we want to recognise people within the Ga State,  it should be the owners and not the  migrant settlers, ” he suggested.

Nii Krotia said the people of Accra had a history even before the active political era in the 1940s and 1960s. The street names should, therefore, be reference points  and tell a story. 

“Which Ga chiefs have had their names recognised  to tell a story? How about a Nii Amugi Street, for example?” he asked.

National Heroes

Nii Krotia said the names given the  streets should  also recognise national, regional and local heroes.

“In the world of sports,  for example, we could recognise Chris Bryant who passed away recently. He was  the first Captain of the Gold Coast 11, the team which became the Black  Stars. In 1951, that team toured England,” he said.

Other names he suggested could recognise the boxing heroes of Bukom — Roy Ankrah, who won the first British Empire  Commonwealth Featherweight title, D.K. Poison, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey and Joshua Clottey.

Nii Krotia said there was, therefore, the need to go back to the drawing board and come up with names that would stand the test of time.

“We should not just rush because of the President’s deadline,” he explained.