Okada Fight: Bawumia Has Lost Touch With Reality – Agbodza

Ranking Member on the Roads and Transport Committee of Parliament Governs Kwame Agbodza says Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has lost touch with reality following his stance on Okada operations.

Speaking at the joint launch of a strategic collaboration of Volkswagon & Blackivy to launch Volkswagon’s new assembled cars in Ghana, Vice President Dr. Bawumia stated that the NPP government will not legalise Okada

“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. 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 graduate school and then make 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.”

Reacting to the comment, Mr Agbodza told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr that the demand for Okada by Ghanaians in the transportation business cannot be overlooked.

” Bawumia has lost touch with the realities on the ground and he’s on his own. The veep is not accepting the fact that motor business is going to be part of the transport mix in this country. He said okada riders will get the chance to lease cars from VW but the question is, how many cars do VW even assemble in Germany?

---starrfmonline