A governance expert, Dr Eric Oduro Osae, has called for the regulation of tricycles, popularly known as the ‘Aboboyaa’ instead of banning their operations.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, has been consulting stakeholders in a bid to revive some by-laws to control access to unauthorised vehicles from using the highways and principal streets of Accra.
It is aimed at strict compliance and enforcement of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (LI 2180), for motorbike riders, abandoned vehicles on streets and also ban tricycles (aboboyaas) from using the highways and principal streets in Accra.
However, speaking with Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (9 August), Osae said: “So I will call more for their regulation than completely abandoning or banning their operation. No, it will not augur well for us.
“… You will agree with me that those main roads may not be … busy like the Accra-Kumasi road … so [on] those ones we can restrict them.
“But allowing them to operate in the city centres, it’s even an eyesore. In this day and age when Ghana is a lower-middle-level-income country, these things should not be allowed,” he said.
National dialogue
Dr Osae believes that aboboyaas play a very important role in the rural areas, where they are used to transport passengers and cart goods from remote farms to market centres. As such, he believes an outright ban will not be in the country’s interest.
He therefore proposes a national dialogue on the matter.
“I think we need a national conversation on this subject. Let us agree on areas where [the aboboyaa] can be used, so it will not endanger the lives of users, the drivers and other motorists.”
