Commercial taxi drivers to be hooked onto electronic system soon

Commercial taxi drivers operating in the Greater Accra Region will soon be hooked onto a digital system similar to the electronic platforms being operated by Uber and Bolt.

This will enable the public to seek their services at any location in the region.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia announced this on Wednesday at the opening of the 46th Session of the General Council Meeting of the Church of Pentecost at the Pentecost Convention Centre, Gomoa-Fetteh, in the Central Region.

The three-day meeting is being attended by delegates of the church across the country and abroad, on the theme: “Re-positioning the Local Church for Maximum Impact in the Nation”.

Vice-President Bawumia said the piloting of the electronic taxis in Greater Accra was a practical solution to a practical problem.

“This is the sort of things we, as politicians, should be focusing on in dealing with the problem of our people,” he said.

The whole public and private transport sectors would soon go on a “Tap and Go” system to be accessed with oyster cards by the end of this year, the Vice President said.

He urged the church to ask politicians to focus on finding solutions to the country’s problems and not to indulge in politics of insults and propaganda.

He said politicians must let politics shine a light on what they do and not try to cover things up in darkness.

“When you see a politician trying to talk, demand data to support what they are saying so let us focus on light, let us focus on data, let us eschew insults and propaganda and let us focus on solving problems that face this country on an everyday basis.”

Dr Bawumia endorsed an impending meeting between the Church of Pentecost and politicians, which he said, had been slated for June 14 to 16, 2023.

He commended the church for the bold initiative and expressed the hope that the conference would impact positively on politics for national development.

Apostle Eric Nyamekye, Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, delivering his report on the “State of the Church” during his five-year stewardship, paid glowing tribute to leadership, some of whom would retire whilst others were still in active service, for their meritorious contributions the Church.

The Church, during the period, recorded a membership growth of 7.9 per cent, which represented a total membership of 3, 597, 955 as of December 2022.

Apostle Nyamekye said the European Commission recently awarded the Pentecost University and five other leading international universities with a 2.69 million Euros grant, to, among other things, research into application of artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems and robotics.

The youth and childrens ministry, women’s ministry, education and health programmes of the church also chalked some successes.

He, however, expressed disappointment that despite the successes chalked so far, the nationwide outbreak of cocoa disease and rehabilitation programmes continued to affect the socio-economic life of members within the cocoa growing areas.

He urged the area heads and district ministers to device measures to tackle the challenges hindering the growth of the church in their respective jurisdictions.