In the dark: The security risk Ghana is ignoring at Elubo

Asantewaa prepares not to sleep but to work when night falls in Elubo. She sells food by the roadside, including Indomie, fried rice, and Jollof, to travelers moving between Ghana and Ivory Coast. The streets of Elubo sink into darkness, making everything uncertain and risky. Elubo is a major border town in Ghana's Western Region, located within the Jomoro Municipal District along the boundary between Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The town has a settlement population of 23,952 people according to the 2021 census. The town has operated for years without streetlights, and in some areas, the existing ones are non-functional. Field observations reveal that a significant proportion of public streetlights in Elubo are non-functional or entirely absent. Night-time commercial activity drops sharply due to insecurity and poor visibility. Border enforcement personnel operate under severely constrained visibility conditions, particularly between 7:00pm and 6:00am. Informal cross-border movement increases during night hours when surveillance capacity is weakest.

Kwame Amponsah, a motor rider and resident of Elubo, said, "For the past 25 years I have lived in this town, I have never seen working streetlights... The government has neglected the people of Elubo." Regina, a vendor at the Elubo station, also confirms that there are no streetlights. The continued lack of streetlights in Elubo brings attention to an important but often ignored aspect of national security: Reliable Energy in Strategic Areas.