Watch how disabled former tollbooth workers fought security at Transport Ministry

Videos making rounds on social media have captured some Persons with Disabilities who were previously employed as tollbooth workers being harassed as they attempted to picket at the premises of the Ministry of Transport in Accra.

The video, shared on Twitter on November 11, shows the former tollbooth workers who are also PWDs forcing their way into the premises of the Ministry of Transport and being pushed back by security.

The former tollbooth workers could be heard in the video questioning the security’s decision to prevent them from entering the premises asking “Why are you doing this? Aren’t we human beings as well?”

Most of them managed to get into the premises where they resumed their picketing.

Earlier, myjoyonline reported that a group of former tollbooth workers spent the night at the Road Ministry seeking two years' worth of salaries after toll collection cessation was picked up.

They were taken to the Central Police Station in Accra for statements, and as of Wednesday afternoon, no charges had been filed, and they remained in custody.

background

Toll collection in Ghana stopped on November 18, 2021, as Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta announced plans to abolish tolls in the 2022 budget. Following the Finance Minister's announcement, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwaku Amoako Atta, directed the halt of toll collection across the country, effective from midnight on November 18, 2021.

By the next morning, toll collection centers were empty, and personnel were no longer collecting tolls. While drivers welcomed the directive, traders expressed concern about the impact on their livelihoods. However, this decision faced opposition from the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who deemed it unlawful, stating that the ban on toll collection was a policy proposal in the budget and should not have been implemented immediately.

Meanwhile, the former tollbooth workers claimed they are yet to be paid the outstanding salaries and given alternate employment as promised by government.

watch the video below

These are some PWDs who were working at the tollbooths before the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government took a stupid decision to render them unemployed for over two years now.

They have decided to picket at the ministry and this is what they have been subjected to. #BawumiaIsUseless pic.twitter.com/4Q0iJpHqB3

— General Marcus! (@marcusadampah) November 17, 2023

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