Editorial: Legalising Okada: Ghana Is Playing With Fire

The Ministry of Transport, Daily Graphic reported yesterday, has inaugurated a 13-member Inter-Agency Review Committee to review the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, L.I. 2180 that prohibits the use of motorcycles and tricycles for commercial purposes, popularly known as ‘Okada’.

The committee will focus on how such motorcycles could be allowed to be used for fare-paying passenger services. Currently, the report continued, use of motorcycles and tricycles for commercial purposes contravenes the existing road traffic regulations, posing challenges for enforcement and road safety.

The review is part of the government’s efforts to address such issues and ensure a safer and more regulated transportation system. The Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, charged the committee to suggest possible amendments to the regulations, including the operational modalities for the implementation of commercial motorcycles and tricycles.

He urged them to focus on three key principles of safety, inclusivity and innovation.

“We aim to cultivate a road traffic environment that respects the rights of all users, fosters economic opportunities and embraces new technologies,” the minister said.

“As many of you can bear witness, the use of motorcycles and tricycles for passenger carriage, popularly referred to as ‘Okada’ or depending on which region they operate in, referred to as Pragya, Mahama can-do, Yellow Yellow and Aboboya, has emerged as a vital mode of transport in the country,” the Transport Minister added.

When the then opposition leader, John Dramani Mahama, first dropped the hint of a possible review of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, L.I. 2180 for motorcycles to be used for commercial purposes, we raised concern about the possible chaos it will create on our roads.

We had argued that even Lagos State authorities, where this ‘okada’ business originated from, had banned it.

Even though ‘okada’, as the sector minister himself admitted is illegal in Ghana, it has become a vibrant enterprise and the police, after fighting the menace for some time, seem to have given up. Okada, ridden mostly by the youth always defy traffic regulations. Apart from riding in between cars, they also jump traffic red lights with careless abandon, thereby putting their own lives and that of other road users in danger.

The big question is: if at the time their operations are considered illegal, they still disobey traffic regulations, what then will happen if they are finally given the green light to operate as a legal entity? President Mahama, whose vision the transport minister is implementing consistently argued that the ‘Okada’ riders would be regulated to avoid chaos on our roads. But this so called regulation, we dare say, cannot be enforced for more than a year after its introduction.

There is certainly going to be chaos on roads in our big towns and cities, but because of the obsession for political power, the opposition then overlooked this potential threat and now seems determined to implement the policy. The other side of the coin, Mr Mahama and his government seem to have ignored, is the potential knock downs of the youth who are selling on the streets.

For now, the policy seems to be popular, especially among the youth, who are into the okada business, but as we have already indicated, a time will come when we will regret implementing the policy.

Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe, whilst inaugurating the committee, also did indicate that apart from Okada, Pragya, Mahama can-do, Yellow Yellow and Aboboya – which are all tricycles, have become the popular mode of transport in the country. This, no doubt, is a statement of fact as these tricycles are well patronised by a section of Ghanaians, but their operations are mostly limited to the rural areas where we do not have large volume of cars on the roads.

This is the reason why we believe the police themselves are not enforcing the law about the usage of these tricycles because it is the only means of transport in the rural areas. But for these Okadas and Pragyas to operate in Kumasi, Accra or Takoradi, where there are thousands of cars plying the roads will be catastrophic. This is the reason why The Chronicle is not supporting the decision to amend the relevant laws for them to operate in the cities.

As we put this piece together, it is an undeniable fact that there are chaos on the streets of Ghana’s second largest city – Kumasi – because of the way the Pragya riders are operating. The situation in Accra seems okay because the city authorities have refused to allow them to operate.  But mark our words – if Okada is legalised, the anarchy on the streets of Accra will be unimaginable.

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