The Chairman of Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, Samuel Ayeh-Paye, has backed former President John Mahama’s call for the legalisation of Okada in the country.
He, however, says the move should be done after a careful assessment of the risk and all other issues involved.
“Personally looking at my constituency and that fact that many young people are involved in okada business, if you ask me, I’ll say we should legalise okada but we should legalize it in a way that will not bring disaster. The GMA is putting the issue that there are so many accidents and deaths caused by okada so their position is that okada shouldn’t be legalised,” he said in an interview.
Mr. Mahama has insisted that the renowned Okada business which is illegal per the laws of the country has created more jobs than the recently implemented NaBCo.
While defending his plans to legalise the controversial mode of transport in an interview with Woesor TV Sunday, August 23, 2020 the NDC flagbearer said “why behave like the turkey and bury your head in the sand? This pragyas, Aboboyaa, okadas have created more jobs in this economy than any government job-related policy. It has created more jobs than NaBCo, YEA and all those artificial job creation programs.
“These young people live under harassment because it’s illegal and so the police stop them, they take money from them and so my suggestion is that why do we behave like the ostrich? Let us legalise it and let us regulate it, let’s make it safer”.
Meanwhile, the National President of the Okada Riders Association of Ghana Michael Kofi Owusu says the business has cut down on the number of robberies recorded in the country.
According to him, some young people who would have turned to crime as a result of unemployment are now engaged in the business to earn a living.
Mr. Kofi Owusu said they are excited over the promise by former President John Mahama to legalise their operations if he wins the December polls.
“When was the last time we recorded armed robbery in this country? It is because of this job. A lot of the young people are now doing this job for a living We are not waiting on government to provide jobs for us. We have created our employment” he said.
He said the claim of accidents associated with the business will be eliminated if they are licensed.
“Some of us are happy about the promise by Mr Mahama about legalising okada and we’ll vote for him to come back to power so he does it for us. When okada is legalised, we won’t be riding in haste and also be running from the police. When the police arrest you, you either pay GHc50 or GHc100 after being delayed for a long time.
“If it’s only about accidents that’s why they don’t want to legalise okada then I’m sorry because there so many accidents in this country that do not concern okada”.