Tricycle operators in Kumasi have begun to comply with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly’s ban on their operations in the Central Business District (CBD).
The KMA began enforcing the ban on tricycle usage in the CBD on July 25, citing the vehicles’ contribution to traffic congestion and safety hazards.
The enforcement was intensified on August 1, leading to the arrest of several defiant operators and a scuffle between the police and angry operators, some of whose tricycles were seized.
The KMA’s efforts to implement the directive have sparked a series of protests and pushback from tricycle/pragya operators.
These clashes have led to the arrest of twelve protesters, who were subsequently released on bail after their second court appearance.
Despite the progress observed in compliance, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly remains steadfast in its commitment to enforcing the directive.
The head of the Transport Department at the KMA, Randy Wilson, told Citi News in an interview on Wednesday that “enforcement is continuing as it started. The enforcement team is in town. We are gradually seeing a reduction in the rate at which people are flouting the rule.”
“Just as we have said time and over again, the association should get their members to comply with the rule and write to KMA then the assembly will be able to sit down based on what is expressed on paper and make a decision. If there is a decision made right now, and it doesn’t also go on well with most of the people involved then what happens. So they just put themselves together and then write and express the various grievances and submit it to the assembly. And then a decision could be made, and we will all be happy and live in our city,” he said.
Meanwhile, Former Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Asawase, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has urged the KMA to engage protesting tricycle operators and revise its ban against the use of tricycles in the Kumasi central business district.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Muntaka urged the KMA to engage with the agitating operators, as the ongoing scuffle between city authorities and the angry operators is likely to affect peace and security in the area.
“What you are saying is that you don’t want them to work because when you say don’t come into the inner city, where will they get passengers?” Muntaka asked.
“When you have a teeming population that does not really have formal jobs, we need to be careful because these are the people engaged in this [tricycle] business, and so we should ask ourselves, assuming we stop that business, what will be the alternative and so let us not let people feel more hopeless because the more people we make feel hopeless, the likelihood we will have uprisings which we may not want.”