‘Okada’ has come to stay
Take it or leave it, the motorcycle as a mode of transporting passengers has gradually become part of us and has come to stay. The third force popularly called “Okada” is now part of the passengers transport system in Ghana, the Liberians call it “Penpen”. The name Okada is derived from an Yoruba word from Nigeria where motorcycles are a versatile and active means of public passenger transport.
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The current trend whereby there is clampdown and arrest of motorcycles users on the highway is a sign of weakness on the part of law enforcement agencies to harmonies and contain the situation. In reality, there is no law that prohibits the use of motorcycle in Ghana, therefore, they are part of the road users and we cannot deny them this fact. As policymakers we are behaving like the Ostrich that hides its face in the bush but tend to show its floppy tail by the roadside. We are only talking about our comfort as urban dwellers and the potential dangers it will pose to us when they appear on the highway.
We cannot deny or underscore the importance of motorcycle usage as a means of passenger transportation in Ghana. Have we ever thought or had a reflection on our failures and inability to provide access roads to every community in Ghana after 56 years of independence, allowing the motorcycle to do the rest for us as a nation? We do not have access roads in most of the rural setting, and in most of the villages the motorcycle is the only means of transportation available firstly as an ambulance to transport the sick, the pregnant women the handicap and secondly the movement of goods and services apart from walking and cycling. There are over one million motorcycles in Ghana both registered and unregistered. These could serve as potential income generating tools when properly managed.
Benefits
It is very important to understand that it not the wish of most of us to use motorcycles against the rules. Circumstance such as denial; none availability and affordability of car usage coupled with limited resources and poverty have lead us into this situation.
The motorcycle is a very powerful and affordable economic machine with a very low fuel consumption rate of about (40 to 60) km per litres. It is one of the less air pollutant machines in the world compared to car use. Although it has smaller vehicle occupancy, its ability to manoeuvre through traffic at “saturation” and congestion road and during peak hours cannot be denied. It is cheaper to maintain and the parts are readily available.
The time has come for the government as the policymaker to take a bold but unpopular step and decision to both regulate and deregulate the motorcycle passenger industry. We have come too far with the “galamsey” syndrome, it has taken us ages to enforce laws to stop “galamsey” but have failed in our effort to do so, forgetting about the fact that people had no jobs and that was the only means of livelihood.
Galamsey involving people who do gold mining independently of mining companies in Ghana is more than 30 years old, during the period the government policy declared it illegal. I remember a lot of lives were lost during the enforcement, the emphasis during the period were the lack of control; there was no safety measure in their operations, their operations were beset with pollution and environmental degradation of the land. But there is one cardinal fact, we cannot deny the people their fundamental right to existence and livelihood the ability to work and provide clothing; shelter and food for the table. Most of them were chased out of their respective habitats and had to go into hiding or hibernation. The latest death case on Galamsey is the incident in Asamama in the Eastern Region where the operators clashed with the police resulting in the death of two people.
The resultant effect is that they operated during the unholy and ungodly hours of the day deep into the nights. As a result of these development most of our natural rivers are either polluted and we have lost most of our forest reserves, just to mention a few of the setbacks. The politician is now talking and promising deregulation after the harm has already been done. We had the opportunity but lost it in the case of “galamsey”. But this time around let us take advantage of the Okada issue as a case scenario and do the right thing.
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The first step is to regulate by ensuring that every motorcycle in Ghana is registered; licensed at a high premium insurance under the laws of Ghana; entice them to come out from their hideouts, Provide capacity building in the form of (training) under formal and non-formal education for all motorcycle users both literate and illiterate, there should be enough publicity on the use of motorcycles on our roads.
The second step is to deregulate by registering them to operate under district and municipal assemblies; allowing the free movement of motorcycle across country. The assembly should assist and ensure that these motorcycles are properly documented and maintained.
My pain is that we have always allowed history to repeat itself so many times, when are we going to learn from history as a nation and avoid repetitions and wait until the harm is done.?The story of how “Akpeteshie” became legalised as an alcoholic beverage in Ghana is another good example. People were either killed or imprisoned; named and shamed as smugglers of “Akpeteshie” in those bad old days.
In conclusion, suffice it to say that the motorcycle as a passenger, transportation mode is a complement to our public transport system; it facilitates the movement of goods and services in areas where we have failed in our duty as policymakers to provide accessible roads and were vehicles cannot go. Regulating and deregulating of the industry is the way forward no matter how unpopular the subject matter will be today, posterity will judge us by our actions if we fail to act promptly on the subject.
Rev. Christopher Doe Torkornoo
Transport Planner/ Lead Consultant
© Transport Research & Training Institute Ghana (TR &TIG)
November 17 2016