‘Okada’ creates more jobs for youth than NABCO so I will legalise it—John Mahama
‘Okada’ creates more jobs for youth than NABCO so I will legalise it—John Mahama
Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has promised to legalise the commercial use of motorcycle “okada” to employ more youth when voted into power.
According to him, Okada has created more jobs than any other flagship policy especially the Nation Builders Corps ( NABCO), thus would do everything in his power to legalise its use in Ghana.
Speaking in an interview on XYZ TV, ex- president Mahama noted there was nothing to be done to stop the operation of Okada and expressed the need to give it a legal backing since it has created more jobs than any government job-related policy.
“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 programs,” he said.
The former president explained that legalising the trade would enable government to save the riders from constant harassment from the police and other security services.
“These young people are living under harassment because it is illegal and so the police harass them; they stop them from time to time and take money from them and all that. And so, my suggestion is that we should legalise it and regulate it to make it safer by training the riders, ensuring that the riders observe all the safety precautions and provide a helmet for the passenger,” he added.
Regularising the commercial use of motorcycles, ex-president Mahama noted would help to easily identify the riders to ensure they obey all traffic regulations rather than the form they are currently operating.
That, he noted would ensure their safety and that of their customers.
“We must be able to identify that this is a commercial motorcycle so that we can ensure that they are following the rules and they must obey all traffic regulations.
You can’t pick a passenger and get to a red traffic light and ride through. So, I say let’s legalise, let’s regularise it because it has created sustainable jobs and people are earning an income out of it,” former president Mahama stated.
He further argued that the ‘okada’ business is the only means of transport in some deprived parts of the country and expressed commitment to target them for the riders to sustain their family livelihoods without any harassments.
“I think that a lot of our policymakers look at job creation at a certain level, they don’t realise the impact that certain segments do in creating sustainable jobs. And like I said, whether we like it or not, that transport segment of boys riding motorbikes for a living, especially in the rural areas where people cannot afford to buy cars and run regular transport services it is the motorcycles that transport everything from goods to human beings, and it has come to stay,” the ex-president stressed.
In an address to chiefs and people of Kpando in the Volta Region as part of his tour of the region, former president Mahama said he recognised the benefits of the ‘okada’ business to the many families that depended on it, hence his promise.
Currently, the use of motorbikes and tricycles for commercial purposes in any form is against Ghana’s Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (L.I 2180).
Some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have criticised Mahama over the promise describing it as hypocritical and an attempt to lure Ghanaians to vote for him.
BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE
