<<Print>>

The Chairman of Parliament's Roads and Transport Committee, Samuel Ayeh-Paye is wondering why the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama is now interested in revamping Okada (Motorbike) business when voted into power again.

He claims the former President’s administration nearly collapsed the business when a law was proposed to parliament by his government to ban the operation of Okada business.

“Former President Mahama introduced the law to ban Okada in 2012. And I remember very well that Okada riders demonstrated against the law but nothing was done to review it then. Why is he pretending the NPP is against their operations? Mahama is just desperate for power,” Samuel Ayeh-Paye told NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’.

His comment follows Mahama’s claims that the okada business had created more jobs for Ghanaians than the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) put together – after questioning why the trade has been branded illegal.

“This is a service that has come to stay. Whether you legalise it or not, you cannot stop it and, so, why behave like the ostrich and bury your head in the sand. These Okadas have created more jobs in this economy than any government job-related policy.”

“It has created more jobs than NABCo, it has created more jobs than YEA and all those artificial job creation programmes,” Mr. Mahama said in his promise to legalise the trade when voted into power.



Review of Law banning motorbikes for commercial use

The Transport Ministry on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, revealed that they are considering a review of the law that bans the use of motorbikes (Okada) in the country for commercial purposes.

Deputy Transport Minister Titus Glover said section 128 of the road traffic regulation Act will be reviewed.

According to him, the use of motorbikes for commercial work is providing jobs for most of the youth and the need to review the regulation.

"They are helping because in their operations there are no jobs available if he is using the motorbike not to commit a crime but to provide a service for a fee even though the laws say that it is illegal to some extent he is doing a job, putting money on the table of his family, it's creating some jobs for the youth, so look at this side of regulation 128," he noted. 

Okada riders rejoice

Receiving the news, the Okada riders say it's a step in the right direction and this will motivate more unemployment youth to join the trade.