National Secretary for the Okada Riders Association, Majid Amadu has lamented that the relationship between the Police Service and the Okada drivers has turned very sore due to the series of threats issued to them by the police.
Speaking on Happy 98.9FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show with Don Kwabena Prah, Majid Amadu explained that the police find any unnecessary means to arrest them whenever they encounter the Okada drivers which makes their work very unpleasant for them.
“As I speak, the police are arresting some of my colleagues based on license, road worthy insurance and motor mirror. After inspecting this, they will ask of protective gear. Meanwhile, police who ride government motors during ceremonial events do not wear protective gear. They should set examples for Okada riders to follow.”
He continued that the commercial motorcycle business has become a source of livelihood to many youth preventing many of them from committing crimes therefore stopping their work will bring about more crime.
“Many people have been helped by the Okada business. Crimes like robbery, land guards, and begging have been stopped because they are all riding Okadas as a source of livelihood” he said.
He ended that if the government does not do something about it, the Okada riders will also not sit down and watch the police put their lives in danger.
The government wanted to phase out the commercial motorcycle business also known as ‘okada’ and with the help of the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), they launched an initiative christened “CODA Drive” to empower operators of Okada to own Bajaj Qute vehicles through a hire purchase agreement with CODA. Under the initiative, operators of commercial motorcycles are to bring their motorcycles for the CODA vehicle and pay for it in installments.
However, the Okada Riders Association says its members will reject the quadricycles offered to them by the CODA Drive initiative.
By: Joanitah Amoakwaah Coffie
