The Member of Parliament for Asawase in the Ashanti Region, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, is pushing for the legalisation of motorcycles also known as okada for commercialisation purposes.
Alhaji Muntaka said commercialisation of the trade would generate revenue for the state and create jobs to partly address the unemployment challenge the country was facing.
In a statement on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, the Asawase lawmaker and the Minority Chief Whip said it was time Ghana reviewed the law that prohibits the use of motorcycles and tricycles for commercial purposes.
Sections 128 (1), (2) and (3) of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2180, passed by Parliament prohibits the use of motorcycles or tricycles for commercial purposes.
Despite this prohibition, the trade continues to boom on the blind side of the law as a result of the increasing traffic situation here in Accra whilst serving as the main source of transportation for rural dwellers.
Per figures from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), out of 2,571 people knocked down by motorists in 2014, 1,856 lost their lives with additional 708 more dying in the first quarter of 2017 out of a total of 4,049 crashes.
These statistics, proponents against the legalisation of motorcycles for commercial purposes say underscores why the trade must remain outlawed.
But Alhaji Muntaka, describing the ban on okada as killing the “goose that laid the golden eggs” said its benefits outweighs the social costs associated with it.
Justifying why the trade should be allowed, Alhaji Muntaka said that for instance in his constituency, the okada business has been the life wire for some of the youth in the area.
“On a typical day, some of the okada riders [in my constituency] make as much as GH₵150 and after paying commission of about GH₵50, they are left with some substantial amount of money to take care of themselves and their immediate family,” he noted.
Emphasising how widespread the okada business was across the country, he also cited countries like Rwanda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria where the trade was regulated and asked Ghana to emulate such countries by legalising the trade so as to create jobs and generate income for the state.
In disagreement to the call by Alhaji Muntaka, the First a Deputy Speaker and MP for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu said legalising the okada trade would spell doom for road safety in the country.
Mr Osei-Owusu, a former Chief Executive Officer at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority said a quick scan around the countries listed by his colleague showed that motorcycles have left accident victims with devastating effects.
Revealing that he was nearly crashed in New Delhi, India, while patronising the services of a motorcycle, ‘Joe Wise’ as the First the Deputy Speaker is affectionately called, said the motor riders “mostly misbehave on the roads” and that legitimising their operations would be to put the life of their patrons at risk.
Agreeing with Alhaji Muntaka that okada had become a major source of transportation means to Ghanaians, he pushed for an effective transport system across the country to address the transportation needs of the people.
In his view, “we may regret it when we commercialise the okada business” because countries who have legitimise the trade wish they never did and had cautioned Ghana against following that route.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI