The Ghana National Association of Driving Schools (GHANADRIVE) has expressed its commitment to provide professional training for commercial motor riders, commonly referred to as “Okada,” to enhance their operations.
This initiative follows the government’s decision to regulate Okada activities, with the aim of creating more employment opportunities for the country’s growing youth population.
Speaking to the media after a courtesy call on Mr. Julius Neequaye Kotey, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Driver, and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Reverend Erasmus Amankwah Addo, President of GHANADRIVE, praised the government’s move to legalize Okada operations, highlighting its potential for job creation.
However, he emphasized the need for the regulation to be carried out in a professional manner, advocating for all riders to undergo formal training. This, he stated, would be crucial in reducing road accidents and ensuring the safety of both riders and pillions. “It is an area that needs to be polished up. In fact, we can’t just say today or tomorrow but motor riders need some training,” he said.
To guarantee that riders receive proper training, Rev. Addo revealed that the association would soon submit a proposal to the DVLA outlining a collaborative approach between the two organizations to support the training and licensing of riders.
“He (Mr. Kotey) actually mandated us to submit a proposal of which we are going to do and submit as soon as practicable. There, we will see the movement as to how to go about it. “We’ve even set up a team now that is going to start working on it, so let give ourselves a week or two,” he said. The courtesy call aimed, among other objectives, to establish a partnership between the association and the Authority to ensure the effective training and licensing of qualified drivers.
Rev. Addo dismissed claims that driving schools were doing little to reduce road accidents in the country. He referenced statistics from the National Road Safety Authority, which indicate that about 90 percent of road crashes in Ghana are caused by human error. Rev. Addo stated that addressing road accidents was a collective responsibility and could not be solely entrusted to one institution. “Seriously, we are doing our best. You know, when we talk about road safety we are talking about enforcement.
“We are handling the education aspect, and we know the other side of enforcement also belongs to MTTD, the police. We cannot take the blame or challenge alone. “It is a shared and collective responsibility, so, no matter how best you do yours, and the other side is not performing, there will be that imbalance and there is nothing we can achieve.
So, it is a holistic approach that we all need to come together– the stakeholders, the trainers, the enforcers, the mechanics, the drivers, we all need to come together to tackle from each angle,” he said. Mr. Virtus Gbogryangn, the Public Relations Officer of GHANADRIVE, urged the DVLA to tackle what he called “back door licensing” of individuals who had not received professional driver’s training to help curb road crashes.
Source: GNA
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