A Deputy Minister of Transport, Titus Glover, has added his voice to the call for the legalisation of the commercial motorbike operations, popularly referred to as Okada, in the country.
Speaking to Bright Kwesi Asempa on the Wednesday edition of the ‘Yensempa’ morning show on Onua FM, the Deputy Transport Minister opined that the commercial motorcycle operators are doing well in terms of generating incomes for themselves and their dependants even though their activities is against the laws of the land.
He added that there must be a national dialogue as to how to apply the laws on the operations of these commercial motorcycles.
According to the Deputy Minister, the ‘Okada’ business is one area of transportation which needs to be explored thoroughly for the benefit of all, arguing that “if it is working elsewhere on the continent, why not here in Ghana”.
“Okada in itself has two angles,” the Tema East Member of Parliament said. “The legal angle and the service that it is rendering, and we all agree that it is illegal in this country”.
He said there are some communities, for instance, in the Volta Region where vehicles cannot go “and so the only means of transport that support these communities is this motorcycle”.
Mr Titus Glover added that although the commercial motorcycle operators are providing effective transport service across the country, their total disregard to the traffic regulations leaves much to be desired.
He, however, commended riders in three northern regions for abiding by traffic regulations in their respective regions.
“I have travelled across the ten regions of the country and the three northern regions are where motorcycles are used the most,” he said, “and if I tell you the way they respect the traffic regulations, you would be amazed. If you are driving on the streets of the Northern Region, Upper East and Upper West Region and the traffic switches to red, all the motor riders stop. That is total respect of the traffic regulations, but the riders in Accra do not do this”.
“For me, I will not hesitate to support regularization of the activities of Okada. It is a conversation we need to engage in now to see how their operations can also be directed by the laws of the country”.
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