Okada Riders Association welcomes Mahama’s promise to legalise business

The Association described the promise as “good news”, adding that more jobs will be created if it’s implemented.

“It is very good news for all of us, especially us in the Okada business,” National President for the Okada Riders Association, Michael Kofi Owusu, said, as quoted by Citinewsroom.

“This is something that we have been expecting for a very long time. We are going to send this message to our people.

“We believe him because we realize that it is not something he is just telling us in darkness or a secret place but coming to a large platform like this for the whole nation that this is what he is going to do. We are all behind him.”

Okada has created more jobs than NABCO – Mahama replies critics Pulse Ghana

The use of motorbikes and tricycles for commercial purposes in any form is currently against Ghana’s Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (L.I 2180).

However, Mahama maintains that the commercial use of motorcycles, popularly known as ‘Okada’, has created more jobs for the youth than government’s Nation Builders Corps (NABCO).

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer noted that it would be better to regulate the business to allow young people make a living out of it, since it is already happening.

“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 legalize 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,” Mahama added.