‘The government should just leave us alone’ – Okada riders to Transport Minister-designate

The Minister-designate for the Ministry of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah made a statement on the legalization of the “okada” business in Ghana.

The minister mentioned this appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, he said, “I never said that we were leading a stakeholder consultation to legalise Okada. I said we were having consultations to come to a determination whether we are going to legalise it or not, and as the condition pertains today, we will not be able to legalise okada.

The Minister designate for Transport, Mr Kweku Ofori Asiamah, said.”Ghana is not ready to legalise the use of motorcycles for commercial purposes, popularly referred to as “okada”.

“We have a problem of enforcement, and based on the issues on the ground, it will be difficult for me to lead the legalisation of Okada. If the conditions in terms of traffic management and enforcement of regulations change in the near future and become conducive to legalise okada, we will do that.

“As I sit here, and knowing that enforcement is an issue in this country, I cannot. In 2010, the people who died out of motorcycle accidents were 210, but in 2020, out of the 2,500 people who died from road accidents, 1,050 were as a result of motorcycles,”The minister explained.

After, this statement some Okada riders in Accra have reacted.
They stated that they do not agree with the government and they are appealing with authorities to allow them to operate because this is what they feed on.

“We beg the government to just leave us alone to do our work because this is what puts food on the table for our family. I have a wife and three children, I take care of them and I need to work to provide for them, there are no jobs in this country so if they stop us from operating what do they expect us to do?” they said.

Most Okada riders have explained that most of the accidents are caused by inexperienced persons who ride the motorbikes.