Political parties must state position on legalisation of Okada business
Ahead of the December 7 polls, the Okada Riders Association of Ghana (ORAG) has stressed the need for political parties seeking political power to come clear on how they intend to legalise the Okada business.
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"We have extended invitation to meet those seeking political power, especially former President John Mahama and the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on the issue.”
"Former President Mahama has assured us that he will legalise Okada, so we want the Vice-President to also come out and let us know his position on this matter," he said. Making the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic at a motor riders town hall meeting organised by the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) in Accra, the National Chairman of the association, Mohammed Tijani, also renewed the call by the association for the legalisation of motorcycles for commercial business in the country.
Illegality tag
He said the illegality tag put on the commercial use of motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, had hampered their operations and contributed to road crashes. The association also indicated that in the absence of jobs for the teeming youth in the country, Okada had become the little forest that had saved them and their families.
Mr Tijani stressed that failure to legalise okada would aggravate road crashes involving motorcycles. "I say this because when our boys are on the road, they are always uneasy and jump traffic because they fear that the police will arrest them.”
"If Okada is made legal and we all know that we are operating under the law, we will feel confident to do our business and that will bring safety to all road users," he said.
Regulation
Mr Tijani further said if okada was legalised and regulated, it would help to rake in tax revenue for the government and create more sustainable jobs for young people. "I can tell you that we have over 700,000 registered okada riders across the country aside from other floating riders. If the business is legalised and we even pay GH¢1 as tax a day, you can imagine what the government will get at the end of the year," he said.
He said ORAG had put in place structures across the 16 regions of the country to help coordinate their activities and ensure that their members were disciplined on the road to reduce crashes.
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Mr Tijanai said apart from encouraging their members to acquire licences, insurance and roadworthy stickers for their motorcycles, the leadership of the association was also ensuring that their members wore helmets.
The Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the NRSA, Daniel Wuaku, urged the motor riders to adhere to road traffic regulations to ensure that they do not endanger their lives and those of other road users.
He emphasised the need for the Okada operators to always wear helmets to minimise the risk of death associated with motorcycle crashes.