Meet ‘Sir Monney’: Driving Safety Across Ghana with Frank Agyei-Monney

7th November 2025

According to the WHO’s 2023 Global Road Safety Status Report, road crashes kill about 1.19 million people each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. In Ghana, an estimated 8,494 people died on the roads in 2021.

The Driving Safety Across Ghana (DSAG) programme, led by Transaid with the support of the Puma Energy Foundation, aims to improve heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver training and promote safer driving practices nationwide. Through the rollout of the new Ghana HGV driver training standard and targeted road safety activities, DSAG aims to reduce road traffic crashes and enhance the professional standard of driver training across Ghana’s road haulage sector.

At the heart of this work are members of the Transaid project team like Frank Agyei-Monney, a certified driver trainer and road safety advocate, who engages drivers in road safety awareness sessions.

 

A passion for safer roads

Frank has worked as a driver trainer for seven years and a road safety advocate for three. His journey into training was driven by a desire to bridge the gap between what drivers are taught and what he observed on Ghana’s roads.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person training was paused, Frank turned to social media to continue sharing road safety tips. His relatable content and approachable style quickly earned him a following, with many drivers across the country now knowing him affectionately as ‘Sir Monney.’

After hearing about Transaid’s work through a friend, Frank joined the DSAG project as a Field Officer in July 2025.

 

Delivering driver sensitisation and training

Frank plays a vital role in providing road safety sensitisation education to HGV drivers across Ghana using content from the new curriculum. Sensitisation raises awareness and educates people about how to stay safe on the road. Frank explains how sensitisation is delivered to different drivers:

“The formal drivers are those that work for companies. We write to the company to book a slot, and during their safety meetings, they invite us to come and speak to the drivers.”

To reach informal drivers, who take jobs as they come and often without a formal contract, Frank visits truck yards and loading areas, where drivers wait for work.

The sensitisation sessions also include the distribution of fact sheets, high-visibility vests, and warning triangles. “We take them through three fact sheets that the project team has developed. That is fitness to drive, pre-drive inspection, and what to do in the event of a breakdown.”

 

Understanding the reality

Through his outreach, Frank has gained insight into the challenges drivers face, particularly those in the informal sector. Many drivers struggle to access healthcare on the road and often self-medicate to cope with stress, fatigue, or long hours behind the wheel. Frank ensures that the sessions discuss managing stress by planning their journey well and resting frequently.

To reach more drivers in Ghana with essential road safety messaging, Frank emphasises the need to increase the number of visits to sites where informal drivers wait for loads, and teaching in the local language.

 

Frank’s impact

Frank takes pride in seeing the difference his work makes among drivers. “The strategy that I use to teach and the feedback that I get makes me feel happy. When we are about to start, before I tell them what is on the fact sheet, I ask them to share with me practically how they manage stress, how they mount their warning triangle, how they prepare before a journey.”

“Then I ask the same questions at the end of the session and they tell you what they have learned, and they’ve accepted what you’ve taught them. That alone makes me feel that I’ve done something today.”

“I’ve learned a lot with Transaid,” Frank reflects, “during the training of trainers, although I knew certain things, I built up my knowledge. After that, through this Driving Safety Across Ghana project, I’ve been visiting various truck yards – meeting my followers and new people. Whenever they see me, they are happy.”

“I’m pleased that I’m able to share knowledge that I’ve acquired.”

Read Frank’s full interview here.

 

 

Between 2021 and 2024, more than 30 stakeholders from the public, private and civil society sectors contributed to the development of a new training curriculum and instructor’s manual to be used to train driver trainers. Since the start of the DSAG project, 4,953 drivers in ten regions have been reached with the new essential road safety messaging.

Frank was nominated for the 2025 Victor Simfukwe Award for going above and beyond to help improve road safety in Ghana.

Read the curriculum and instructor’s manual on Transaid’s Knowledge Centre.