Niger harassing Ghana’s haulage trucks drivers

Haulage vehicle operators within the port city of Tema may soon be forced out of business as a result of the challenges they face in their bid to transport cargo to neighbouring francophone countries.

The Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council and the Ghana Haulage Transport Drivers Association have for the past years lamented the harrowing experiences their drivers are subjected to by customs officials in neighbouring Togo, Ivory Coast, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Besides the uncountable number of security checkpoints on these routes, vehicle owners are constantly harassed by police personnel, who demand hefty sums before they are allowed passage.

These challenges seem to have been compounded by the harsh conditions under which these cargo drivers operate.

On a typical working day, the drivers, who complained bitterly about the inability of port officials to allocate parking lots for them, are forced to park on the shoulders of the road, posing a great danger to drivers at night.

The haulage drivers, led by the chairman of the Ghana Haulage Transport Drivers Association, Alhaji Abdulai Baba, narrated their frustrations to The Finder.

According to them, they have on numerous occasions petitioned port officials on their maltreatment by neighbouring countries.

Alhaji Baba further stressed, “We don’t have any place to park, rest or spend the night after travelling these long distances.”

The Finder also sighted a petition by the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council addressed to the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, the Ambassador of Niger, the Ghana Shippers Authority and the Ghana Haulage Transport Drivers Association.

The council, among other issues, outlined the constant harassment they face when they cart goods to the neighbouring countries. In some instances, some of the Ghanaians drivers are detained and made to either offload their goods or pay penalties for “petty crimes” they are accused of committing.

Currently, over 50 Ghanaian haulage trucks have been impounded in Niger and Burkina Faso for reasons that are yet to be explained to the Ghanaian customs officials.

The group wondered why the neighbouring countries defied the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) protocols on trade and free movement of vehicles without regard to laid down conventions.

The Ghana Haulage Transport Drivers Association is, therefore, threatening to stop other foreign haulage operators from conducting business in Tema if the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and the sector ministry fail to work towards the immediate, unconditional release of Ghanaian haulage vehicles impounded in neighbouring countries.