Afeku rallies support for legalization of okada as means of transport

The Minister of Tourism, Catherine Afeku has urged Members of Parliament and Civil Society to support the training of motorbike riders to enable them acquire knowledge in order to be efficient and effective.

She wants them registered since it serves as another means transport as well as job creation. She therefore called on the National Road Safety Commission to beef up its sensitization drive, not limiting it to just talkshops, but the use of traditional media, social media, platforms like community engagements to support the training of okada riders.

The Minister who is also the MP for Evalue Ajomoro Gwira indicated that in the rural areas, these motorbikes support transportation of pregnant women who needed urgent medical attention. She acknowledged that though their activities are a challenge in the cities, in the rural areas it could save even lives when properly regulated.

The Minister made this emphatic statements Friday when the Member of Parliament for Efigya Sekyere East, Mavis Nkansa Boadu made a statement on the floor of Parliament expressing her worry and displeasure about non enforcement of the Enforce Road Traffic and Motor Regulations.

Meanwhile, First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Owusu who is a former head at DVLA reminded Mrs. Afeku that there is nothing in our laws called Okada.

He also maintained that the laws of the land are not against motorbikes but rather, the commercialization of motorbikes as a means of transport is what the law in our books disagrees with.