Joana Frances Adda, Executive Director of Target Wide Foundation
The Executive Director of Target Wide Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, Joana Frances Adda, has cautioned motor riders within the Ashaiman Municipality to be disciplined on the roads before, during, and after the Yuletide season.
She gave the caution on Thursday, December 14, 2023, during a sensitization programme organized by the Chief of Ashaiman, Nii Annang Adzor, and other stakeholders like the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, the National Road Safety Authority, the Okada Riders Association of Ashaiman, and a host of others.
Delivering her keynote address, the Executive Director of the Target Wide Foundation, Joana Frances Adda, underscored the importance of safe riding, saying, “it’s high time riders put up good behavior and obey simple road regulations and signs.”
This, she emphasised, would create an enabling environment for the government to consider the passage or otherwise of the law that prohibits commercial motorcycle activities in the country.
Support
She stressed her Foundation’s willingness to give assistance to Okada riders within the Ashaiman Municipality on safe ways of riding and education on the need to arrive safe and sound.
“You all have families, and it is incumbent on you to ride as though the entire family depends on your safe return. That way, reckless driving will be a thing of the past, and this will equally help in efforts to reduce motor-related accidents in Ashaiman and beyond,” she noted.
Licence
Frances Adda further indicated that licensing acquisition is the prerequisite for every rider who intends to ride on the various roads within Ashaiman.
According to her, if they ride without a license, it is an offense that could incarcerate them and cause pain to their families, especially in cases where they are breadwinners.
“I would want to use this opportunity to urge you all to be conscious of license acquisition in operations. Don’t be a recalcitrant rider and get into trouble for not riding with a license.
“Together, we can create an avenue where we will all remain within the confines of the law to promote socio-economic development. This, I believe, will ensure that your business will be likened to that of Rwanda and other parts of the African continent”, she stated.
Advice
For his part, the chair of the programme, Nii Annang Adzor, also admonished the riders to consider the need to observe traffic regulations.
According to him, with the influx of foreign nationals from neighboring countries like Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali, and Niger operating Okada in Ashaiman, there is certainly a reason to worry.
“It is sad to note that several of these riders are not Ghanaians and are unable to understand our language, talk less of road signs, hence riding anyhow and hitting innocent pedestrians frequently. This is a cause for worry,” he bemoaned.
Meanwhile, some of the participants expressed their satisfaction with the program and called on the government to expedite calls for the immediate passage of the Commercial Motorcycle Riding Act.
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