'A govt official tried to discourage us' - Ghanaian team that chalked 10,000km Accra-London feat

One of the men who was part of the 12-man team who have just achieved a historic feat of driving 10,000km from Accra to London, Saka, has recalled how while planning to embark on the journey, a government official tried to discourage them.

Speaking from their London location, after the 16-day journey, Saka told TV3 Newday that there were a lot of people who did not believe in them, and as such, tried to discourage them.

He explained that one of those people, without mentioning names, was a person who is a government official.

He added that this person told them that it would have been more preferable to travel that journey via air and not through road as they wanted to do.

“One thing we must also bring to bear here is that we got a lot of discouragements. There was a lot of naysaying. One of the officials in Ghana, in one of the government institutions, said to us, ‘Ah, but you can take a plane for 6 hours and go, so why do you want to drive? Please go and take a plane and go.’

“And we didn’t go and ask for money; just for courtesies to be extended to us at borders…,” he explained.

He also said that now that all has been achieved, these same people have been all over, enjoying the pride they have been able to bring to the country.

“…but you know, now that we have been able to do it and it’s caught a vibe and all the news networks have it, these same people are busily posting us and saying things about, retweeting and the like,” he added.

That aside, Saka explained that it brought him some life lessons.

He also urged people who are inspired by their feat to ensure that they do not allow naysayers to discourage them from achieving their dreams.

“For me, what I’ve taken from it is that we should all try, to the best of our abilities, to believe in our dreams and to live our dreams. We shouldn’t focus on naysayers and people with negative thoughts towards our dreams, if you pursue it with the diligence with which we have pursued this trip, everyone will achieve their dream,” he said.

The team started their journey on July 23, 2023, and arrived in London on Sunday, August 6, 2023, after completing the historic 10,000km feat.





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