The Akom Axle Load Centre, managed by Ghana Highways Authority in the Afigya Kwabre South District of the Ashanti Region, has been rocked with corruption allegations.
Sources indicated to our news team that, fines collected from overloaded vehicles are being underdeclared, with authorities reportedly cutting deals with drivers.
Ordinarily, trucks exceeding the recommended Axle weight are required to pay a penalty of GHC5,000 after offloading excess goods or GHC20,000 if they opt to continue their journey with the excess load.
However, Ghana Highways Authority personnel working at the checkpoint are allegedly under declaring these penalties. Again, international trucks are often targeted, with drivers paying GHC20,000 to continue with excess cargo, but not always receiving official receipts.
We were told Ghana Highways Authority officers intercept trucks at unofficial checkpoints, extorting money without issuing receipts.
Meanwhile, a group of agitated National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth in the Afigya Kwabre North District of the Ashanti Region on Monday morning, June 30, 2025, stormed the Akom Axel Load Centre in protest over alleged corruption and embezzlement at the facility.
According to our reporter, Kwame Yeboah, the group said, some officials at the Centre are deliberately allowing overloaded axles to pass without proper checks in exchange for unrecorded cash payments, which they claim are pocketed by the perpetrators instead of being accounted for by the state.
They expressed their disappointment, stressing that such corrupt practices are causing the country to lose huge sums of money that could be channeled into developmental projects.
“As NDC members, Ghanaians voted for H.E. John Dramani Mahama to come and reset the nation, and we’ll not sit down for some crop of people to milk the country while the money can be used to do other things,” one of the youth leaders stated during the protest.
The situation, which had the potential to escalate into chaos, was swiftly brought under control through the intervention of the Ashanti Regional Deputy Security Coordinator, Alhaji Nje, and his team.
Speaking to the media after calming the protesters, Alhaji Nje noted, “We had intelligence that there was going to be chaos at the Centre and, swiftly as we are, we responded and calmed the situation. We are going to investigate the claims made by the youth, and proper actions will be taken.”
Thanks to the prompt response from the security team, no violence was recorded, and calm was restored at the facility.
The youth have since called on the appropriate authorities to act swiftly and bring those responsible to book.
With additional files from Kwame Yeboah
