The Day Ghana Forced the Roads to Turn Right: The Untold Story of August 4, 1974

On a Sunday morning in August 1974, Ghana achieved one of the most remarkable feats in West African history.

Millions of drivers across the country quietly shifted from the left to the right side of the road. Cars, buses, trucks, and trotros moved in synchrony. There was confusion, but no major accidents. There was planning, discipline, and precision. Ghana had officially “kept right.”

The roots of Ghana’s driving system trace back to the British colonial era. The Gold Coast, as Ghana was then known, inherited the British habit of left-hand traffic. Roads, driving schools, and vehicle imports were all structured around it. Independence in 1957 under Kwame Nkrumah did not change this system. There were more pressing national priorities, and the roads stayed the same.

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But as Ghana looked at its neighbours, the misalignment became clear. Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta), and Nigeria all drove on the right. Truck drivers crossing borders had to mentally switch lanes at each frontier. Trade convoys faced delays, and vehicle imports were complicated. For a country increasingly connected to its francophone neighbours, the left-hand system had become a burden.

The decision to switch came under the military government of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, who seized power in January 1972. Acheampong’s regime would later be remembered for mismanagement, but in its early years, it pursued bold policies, including Operation Keep Right, the change from imperial to metric measurements, and the self-reliance programme Operation Feed Yourself.

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The legal groundwork for the traffic switch was laid with NRCD 212, passed in 1973, giving the government a full year to prepare the nation for the changeover on 4 August 1974.

The scale of the operation was unprecedented. A National Right-Hand Traffic Committee was formed, chaired by the Army Commander and including representatives from the Ministry of Transport, the Information Services Department, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, and regional administrators.

The government invested three million cedis, roughly one million pounds at the time, into the exercise. Road signs were repositioned, intersections redesigned, traffic officers trained, and driving schools instructed. Importantly, new registrations of right-hand drive vehicles were prohibited three days before the switch.

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Public education was central. Posters appeared across cities and towns. Loudspeakers carried instructions through communities. Radio and television broadcasts reinforced the message.

A catchy campaign jingle in Twi, “enyinfa enyinfa naanyin”, meaning “keep to the right,” was broadcast nationwide. It became part of daily life, embedding the new rule in the nation’s collective memory.

To reduce risk, the sale of alcohol was banned on 3 August 1974. Anyone caught violating the rule faced a 200 cedi fine or six months imprisonment.

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On Sunday, 4 August, Ghana exhaled. Police and traffic wardens were deployed at key intersections, with special attention to children, pedestrians, and the elderly. The preparation paid off. While minor confusion occurred, the transition was largely smooth. By mid-morning, drivers across the country had adjusted, and Ghana was firmly driving on the right.

The switch aligned Ghana with its francophone neighbours, facilitating cross-border trade, vehicle imports, and regional integration. Vehicle fleets became more standardised, traffic flow improved, and the change enhanced road safety. Commemorative stamps were issued to mark the occasion, reflecting the sense of national achievement.

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Fifty years later, the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) reflected on the operation as a model of effective planning and public communication. Madam Simbiat Wiredu, Head of Corporate Affairs, noted:

"Safety was a key objective for moving from the left to the right. Fifty-one years on, this remains a significant milestone in Ghana's road safety story and a reminder that every policy, every change, should ultimately safeguard lives."

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Operation Keep Right is more than a story about traffic laws. It is a demonstration of what a nation can achieve when planning, communication, and discipline come together. It was a military government that implemented the change, but the operation itself endured far beyond its political context. For one August morning in 1974, an entire country looked left, looked right, and chose right, and made it work.