He said the stance taking by the ruling party is not well thought out and might affect its electoral chances come December 7.
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Rethink your okada ban policy - Political analyst advises govt
Michael Ebo, a political analyst has tasked the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to have rethink on its stance on the legalization of okada.
Bawumia and Nana Addo
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Mr. Ebo gave this advise in relation to a statement made by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in Accra yesterday.
Dr. Bawumia has said the government will never legalize okada, a decision he described as difficult but in the best interest of the country.
But Mr. Ebo says the comments by the Vice President is in sharp contradiction to what the Transport Ministry told Ghanaians.
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He argued some countries have successfully commercialised Okada with several women in the business, adding "if other countries have done it, why can’t we do it? We should look at it very well. Whether you like it or not, Okada has come to stay.”
He disclosed that an NPP executive in the Eastern Region has donated 30 motorbikes to party supporters despite questioning the rationale behind the commercialization of the Okada business.
Mr Ebo also asked how many people "can get access to the cars the Vice President talked about. Dr. Bawumia hasn’t thought about this carefully and the party has also not thought about it. The government should rethink about this Okada business”.
Speaking at the joint launch of a strategic collaboration between Volkswagon & Blackivy to outdoor Volkswagon’s new assembled cars in Ghana, Vice President Dr. Bawumia said: “I know that there’s been a recent discussion about Okada in Ghana, I think that in the context of what we are doing we will rather encourage the okada riders to come in and try to lease these vehicles so that they can run businesses."
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Pulse Ghana
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"They need to graduate from this risky and less safe okada riding to a safer means of transportation. Their problem will be a lack of capital but if you bring in new leasing policies and we have our national ID cards with our digital addresses we can have a credit system working and give you an option other than this risky job."
He added: “You don’t want to finish driving school and then make a life in okada riding. You can have a better option and we’ll give you a better option. So, yes, we will not legalize Okada business. It may be a tough decision but it is in the interest of Ghanaians. We have had discussions but we will stick to our decision to provide a better alternative to okada riding. Let’s give them an opportunity to lease vehicles and pay over time.”
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