The Transport Ministry is considering a review of the law that bans the use of motorbikes (Okada) in the country for commercial purposes.
For the past five years motorbikes popularly known as 'okada' has been used for commercial purposes in the capital, Accra and some part of the country.
The use of these motorbikes is mostly because of the increasing vehicular traffic situations in Accra. But the road traffic regulation is against the use of motorbikes for commercial purposes in Ghana.
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There is some good news for these motorbike users because the Transport Ministry has held a stakeholder meeting to review the law banning the use of motorbikes for commercial purposes.
Speaking to Citi FM, Deputy Transport Minister Titus Glover said section 128 of the road traffic regulation Act will be reviewed. According to him, the use of motorbikes for commercial work is providing jobs for most of the youth and the need to review the regulation.
"They are helping because in their operations there are no jobs available, if he is using the motorbike not to commit crime but to provide a service for a fee even though the laws say that it is illegal to some extent he is doing a work, putting money on the table of his family, it's creating some jobs for the youth, so look at this side of regulation 128."
One of the easy ways to get to your destination in Nigeria is okada, this saves a lot of time. Okada has been with Nigeria for a very long time and a replica in Ghana will not be out of place and when the law reviewed to accommodate it in the country it will save workers a lot of time especially those who spend hours in traffic to work and back home.
Same as Nigeria, Ghana can also use okada in accessing most remote areas of the country.
Ghanaians have over the years been divided over the use of Okada, some believe that it is one of the easiest and fastest modes to get to one's destination while others say it is dangerous due to how our roads lack demarcated lanes for motorbikes.
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According to data from the National Road Safety Commission, the number of motor riders who died in road accidents across Ghana increased from 200 cases in 2010 to 400 incidents in 2017.
This represents a rise of 100 percent in the number of deaths which occurred in seven years.
Data further show that commercial motor riders (okada riders) consisted of about 25 per cent of the total incidents recorded within the period.
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Titus-Glover, has therefore observed that players in the industry need to forge a strong solution to address the situation.