Okada created more jobs than NaBCo and Youth Employment Agency - Mahama

He said his government's priority is to legalise the okada business but regulate it to avoid unnecessary loss of lives adding that "This is a service that has come to stay."

In an interview on TV XYZ, he said "Whether you legalise it or not, you cannot stop it and, so, why to behave like the ostrich and bury your head in the sand.

"These okadas have created more jobs in this economy than any government job-related policy.

"It has created more jobs than NABCo, it has created more jobs than YEA and all those artificial job creation programmes."

Okada, he said will be useful than even NABCO, why because these people can create jobs within their locality.

"These young people are living under harassment because it is illegal and, so, the police harass them; they stop them from time to time and take money off them and all that. And so, my suggestion is that we should legalise it and regulate it to make it safer by training the riders, ensuring that the riders observe all the safety precautions and provide a helmet for the passenger.

"We must be able to identify that this is a commercial motorcycle so that we can ensure that they are following the rules and they must obey all traffic regulations," Mahama added.