Okada business booming in Manya Krobo District

Transportation on motor bicycles, locally known as Okada business is steadily increasing in the Upper Manya Krobo District due to the bad nature of roads linking up the villages in the area.

The roads in the district are rocky, hilly, muddy and difficult for vehicles to ply, therefore, the Okada or motorbike is seen as the alternative transportation means of travelling to the communities in the district.

The Okada has also become a job creation opportunity for the youth who have found for themselves loading points to facilitate their businesses each day.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) media auditing and tracking of development project team came across several Okada pick-up points in the district and investigations showed that, many preferred the Okada to vehicles especially from the remote villages.

George Ababio, an Okada rider, told the GNA that, the business is helping him to make a living, saying, “It is better than doing nothing.”

He said realizing the bad nature of the roads and the difficulties people encounter in getting vehicles from the communities, he and his colleagues took advantage and decided to operate the Okada business to make a living.

Francis Terpernor, a station master at one of the Okada stops in the district said that even though the business was new, it is booming.

He explained that on market days for instance, business is good because many people from the villages travel to the big towns to transact business.

Mr Teteh Akwerh, a teacher in one of the remote communities, who lives along the Nkurankan –Asesewa road, told the GNA that, but for the Okada, it would have been difficult for him to walk daily to and from school.

He said with the Okada, he is able to go to school regularly, which was not the case earlier, explaining that, on days he is not able to make the three kilometer journey on foot or does not get a vehicle, he does not go to school.

Other communities, which patronise the Okada business include, Asesewa, Otrokper, Ahabaso, Sekesua, Sutapong, Asuom and Akotokrom Gua, among others.

However, the GNA noted that the Okada riders and their passengers do not wear helmets.

Additionally, the GNA observed that majority of the owners of the motor bicycles used for the Okada business had not insured their bikes because the Okada business is illegal in Ghana