We have always wanted to regulate Okada – NPP backtracks on legalization

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) appears to be backtracking on its opposition to the legalization and regularization of the uses of motorcycles for transporting people, known in local parlance as Okada.

Mr Buaben Asamoah, National Communications Director of the governing NPP, has explained that even though there is a law against Okada in the country, the practice has not been banned by the government because it is not against Okada as it is following recommendations of the Ministry of Transport that favour a revision of the ban and the setting up of a strong regulatory framework for safety of operators of the Okada business.

“Our position hasn’t changed. What people assume to be our position may not even be accurate because the practical reality on the ground, as far as this Okada thing is concerned, is that John Mahama [when he was President] issued an L.I. for it to be banned…

“We have not enforced that L.I. Otherwise, based on that there will be no Okadas in town. So we are not against Okada, if that is the position that people think the party has. We are not against Okadas because we haven’t enforced the rules against them,” he told GhanaWeb on Monday, September 7, 2020, acknowledging that Okada operations reduce employment, especially among the youth in the country.

He asserted that the NPP and President Nana Akufo-Addo government on Okada are not against the operations of Okada, but are acting in consonance with recommendations of the Ministry of Transport contained in a document entitled: “Facilitation Services for Consultation on Motorcycle Operations in Ghana,” which among others, says that Okada operations should be properly regulated and gradually phased out for a much safer means of Transport, especially in the cities.

His position is in sharp contrast to earlier assertions by communicators of the NPP that Okada operations were unsafe and shouldn’t be legalised as proposed by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The legalization and regularization of the Okada business has become a major campaign message of the NDC which was highlighted on Monday during its manifesto launch.