Businesses pace up and down in lorry terminals ahead of Election 2020

Businesses are pacing up and down at different lorry terminals, possibly as a result of the upcoming December 7, polls, the Ghana News Agency has gathered.

The Agency on Saturday visited a number of Lorry terminals to observe the numbers that were travelling before Ghanaians cast their ballots on Monday, December 7, 2020.

At the VIP Lorry Terminal, at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Agency observed a crowded scene where passengers were worriedly and tiredly in queues awaiting a chance to get on board to their destinations.

As at the 19:00 hours on Saturday evening, there were hundreds of passengers spotted joining queues personally or with their luggage just to find places to sit to rest, after being drained of all hope that the next car was going to be available soon.

A staff who agreed to talk to the GNA at the VIP Lorry Terminal, as an anonymous worker, said the situation was usually like that every Friday, hence they could not tell whether the upcoming election had had any impact on the non-availability of cars or the multiplying number of passengers that were trooping in.

He said usually over 200 vehicles packed on the lorry terminal, however, as at the 1930 hours of Saturday, more than 140 cars had set off to varied destinations.

The Agency observed that passengers had queued awaiting the chance to buy tickets at varied stations of the terminal including that of Kumasi, Dormaa, Sampa, Berekum, Wenchi, Enchi, Sunyani and Bolga among others.

The situation at the STC Lorry Terminal, was no different, even though was a bit relaxed, as passengers were seen seated and awaiting a bus to purchase their tickets and get on board.

Mr Paul Siaw, a Ticket Seller, at the Ho station, Accra, on the other hand, said business had declined from the early hours of Friday December 4, 2020 to Saturday. As at the 17:40 hours, he said the station that usually had registered about six or seven cars to move daily from Accra to Ho, was yet to get the third full minibus of passengers to set off.

He confidently, said political parties hired buses to convey their supporters to other regions to vote in the December 7 polls, a situation he believed reduced the usual sales they made over the weekends.

Mr Yaw Simpson, the Assistant Station Master of the Koforidua Station, in Accra Tema station, said for his part, business had boomed by 100 per cent from the beginning of the weekend.

He said on an average day, the station made sales with about 20 cars, however, as at the 1800 hours of Saturday December 5, 2020, 40 cars had already set off to Koforidua.

In an interaction with some of the passengers, Mr Appiah Gyamfi, who was traveling to Kumasi at the VIP station, said he deliberately registered to cast his ballot in Kumasi, so he could join his family there to make merry when his party won the election, hence the reason for joining a queue on Saturday evening.

Mrs Mabel Enyonam Mensah, a passenger on an Accra-Ho bus, said she also registered deliberately at Ho to get an opportunity to reunite with her family and vote as well, as her work in Accra barely gave her time to travel to her hometown.