Back to Square One: Why Tamale’s Decongestion Drive Needs a Stronger Framework for Yellow-Yellow Regulation

The Tamale Metropolitan Assembly’s recent decongestion exercise in the Central Business District (CBD) offered hope to many residents weary of chaos on the streets. Pavements were cleared, illegal structures removed, and tricycles — the ubiquitous yellow-yellows — were driven off key roads. For a while, sanity seemed to return. Yet, only months later, Tamale is back to square one. The yellow-yellows are back in force, pedestrians have been forced off pavements, and vehicles once again park haphazardly on every available space. The question is simple: why do such well-intentioned exercises in Tamale fail to endure?

The truth is that Tamale’s decongestion efforts have been largely cosmetic, quick operations that lack a sustainable framework. They do not tackle the underlying causes of the disorder: weak enforcement, lack of proper infrastructure, and unregulated operations of tricycles. The Mayor’s office must move beyond sporadic “crackdowns” and instead build a permanent system --- a framework of registration, supervision, and accountability that ensures order, safety, and dignity in the city.

The Unending Yellow-Yellow Menace

No discussion about congestion in Tamale can begin without acknowledging the central role of yellow-yellow operators. These tricycles have become both a blessing and a curse. They provide affordable transport, create employment for thousands of young people, and fill gaps in the city’s public transport system. Yet, their unregulated operations have transformed the metropolis into a free-for-all traffic arena. Recent estimates suggest there are more than 30,000 tricycles operating within the Greater Tamale area. They stop anywhere, drive against traffic, ignore lights, and block intersections. Accidents are frequent. Many operators are unlicensed, untrained, and unfamiliar with basic traffic rules. It is therefore unsurprising that several key roads --- from Aboabo through Nyohini to the hospital stretch have become near-permanent choke points. Even more troubling is that yellow-yellow unions themselves have publicly complained about the lack of designated terminals. In mid-2024, the Tricycle Operators Association called on the Assembly to allocate permanent operating points, lamenting that the absence of terminals was forcing them onto the streets and contributing to traffic chaos. This simple fact underlines a fundamental truth: enforcement alone cannot solve the problem without infrastructure and regulation.

Decongestion without Structure
The Mayor’s office deserves credit for attempting to bring order to the city. The last decongestion exercise, supported by city guards and police, cleared portions of the Access Bank Link Road and parts of the Teaching Hospital stretch. However, the operation failed to institutionalize what it started. Traders returned to the pavements within weeks, tricycles resumed their illegal stops, and taxi drivers turned junctions into lorry stations. There are two reasons for this failure.

First, there is no permanent enforcement structure. The city guard system works mainly during daylight hours, leaving evenings and nights unmonitored. Yet, Tamale is a 21-hour city --- vibrant late into the night, especially around Nyohini, Aboabo, Sabon Jida, and the Central Market area. Without round-the-clock enforcement, the city quickly reverts to its default disorder.

Second, there is no dedicated department within the Assembly to oversee yellow-yellow operations and urban transport compliance. Matters of traffic, parking, and street vending fall loosely under various units --- planning, transport, and sanitation, but no single department has the clear mandate to coordinate, regulate, or punish offenders. What Tamale needs is an Urban Mobility and Street Order Department under the Mayor’s direct supervision, empowered to register operators, receive complaints, and coordinate enforcement with the city guards and police.

The Role of the City Guard System

The city guard unit is the Assembly’s enforcement arm, but its current structure is reactive and limited. Guards appear mainly during official hours, often in response to political pressure or media complaints. Once the heat cools, enforcement wanes. To be effective, the City Guard Department must become a professionalized, full-time corps operating on a 24-hour schedule. Guards must be trained not merely as “taskforce” members but as civic officers tasked with maintaining order --- regulating parking, ensuring pavements remain clear, and preventing roadsides from turning into lorry stations. The guards must also be empowered to issue spot fines for offences such as wrong parking, illegal vending, and reckless riding. Public confidence in enforcement grows only when citizens see that the rules are applied consistently, not only during “decongestion exercises.”

The Infrastructure Deficit
Tamale’s congestion is not merely a behavioural problem, it is a spatial one. The city has grown faster than its infrastructure. For instance, the GH¢1.9 million lorry terminal built at Datoyili nearly a decade ago lies abandoned, overtaken by weeds and decay. Had it been operational, it could have absorbed hundreds of vehicles now clogging the city center. There is the unused Kukuo Market, into which millions of cedis was injected. Currently, there are no permanent terminals for tricycles and motorcycles. Tricycles park and load at virtually every junction, narrowing lanes and creating dangerous bottlenecks, while half of major roads have been allocated for motorcycles to park. The Assembly must urgently acquire or lease dedicated parking spaces for both vehicles and tricycles. These can be developed through public-private partnerships, where investors build and manage the lots for a modest fee. Encouragingly, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) could be incentivized to build and own their own terminals instead of relying solely on government-provided ones. This partnership model has worked elsewhere and can help Tamale decongest sustainably.

The State of the Streets
Beyond tricycles, other forms of disorder aggravate Tamale’s congestion. Most pavements have been “seized” by traders, who extend their stalls into walkways, forcing pedestrians onto the roads. At night, some areas of the CBD --- around Central Market, Water Works, and Choggu --- become informal sleeping or storage zones. Add to this the stray animals that freely roam the streets and you have a perfect recipe for chaos. These problems are not insurmountable. The Assembly simply needs a coordinated plan: functional traffic signals, strict prohibition of roadside parking, designated loading and unloading bays, and regular patrols by city guards to keep pavements clear.

Public Education and Civic Behaviour

Decongestion is not only about enforcement, it is about education and civic discipline. The Assembly should partner with schools, mosques, churches, and civil society to launch a “Clean and Orderly Tamale” campaign. Volunteers could distribute flyers and educate the public on simple but transformative behaviours: using dustbins, obeying lights, parking properly, and respecting walkways. Flyers and billboards at vantage points --- intersections, markets, mosques, and bus stops should remind citizens of the rules. Such messaging, if sustained, can gradually reshape public behaviour. Residents must also learn to stop dumping refuse into gutters, particularly during the rainy season. The ongoing desilting of major drains, such as the one near the Tamale Central Mosque, will be futile if people continue to use gutters as rubbish bins.

A Place for Everyone including Our “Prized” Beggars

The human element of the congestion problem is often ignored. The city center is now home to hundreds of beggars, many from within Ghana and others from neighbouring countries who line major streets, traffic intersections, and market entrances. Their presence is a humanitarian issue but also an urban management challenge. A pragmatic approach would be to designate a “beggars’ zone”, perhaps along the Nyohini–Gumbihini road behind the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, where social welfare agencies can monitor and assist them. Relocation must be done humanely, not forcefully, but it must be done if order is to prevail in the heart of the city.

Building a Legacy: Clock Tower, Fountain, and Doves

Tamale’s mayor has an opportunity not just to restore order but to leave a legacy. Every great city has symbols that define its identity. Tamale deserves the same.

First, the city can erect a central clock tower, a proud landmark with a chime at 12 noon. In colonial times, the police fired a cannon at midday, and Dagombas still refer to 12 noon as “agbaa,” meaning cannon. A clock tower that chimes daily would be a fitting modern echo of that history, symbolizing order and precision. Second, the mayor can pursue the long-forgotten idea of a city fountain. A modest fountain at a strategic roundabout, such as the Industrial Area junction would beautify the city and serve as a visual signature of renewal. Third, the city could introduce doves at selected points, such as around the Regional Coordinating Council or the Central Park. Many global cities, from Mecca to Rome, cherish doves as symbols of peace and purity. Beyond their beauty, they convey a sense of calm and spirituality, something Tamale sorely needs amid its bustling energy.

My Position: A Call to Leadership and Civic Pride

What Tamale requires now is not another temporary exercise but a governance shift. The mayor must build an institutional legacy:

• Create a Yellow-Yellow Regulation and Urban Transport Department within the Assembly.
• Professionalize and equip the City Guard Department to operate around the clock.
• Enforce clear parking, trading, and traffic by-laws without political interference.
• Partner with the private sector for parking lots, terminals, and market facilities.
• Launch a city-wide education campaign to promote discipline and cleanliness.

Urban management is not about arrests and seizures alone; it is about structure, planning, and leadership. When rules are consistent and the environment is dignified, citizens respond with respect. Tamale is one of West Africa’s fastest-growing cities, blessed with culture, youth, and vitality. But without order, growth turns to chaos. The Mayor has a rare chance to rewrite the story, to make Tamale a city that works, moves, and breathes with pride. When the clock tower chimes at noon, let it remind us not of past neglect, but of a new civic spirit --- one where Tamale stands clean, organized, and dignified at last.

FUSEINI ABDULAI BRAIMAH
+233208282575 / +233550558008
afusb55@gmail.com

   Comments0