President for policy Tink Tank IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has also waded in the raging debate on the legalization of Okada Business as was promised by former President John Dramani Mahama.
This comes after the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said in his interaction with the people of Kpando that he will legalize the OKADA Business if given power on December 7.
“I’ve been seeing young people who have finished school and they can’t find a job and, so, they are looking for something they can do and many of our young people are riding motorcycles and transporting people from place to place, and we call them Okada”.
“But in our law, it says Okada is illegal but Okada is a reality, it has come to stay, you can’t stop it, and, so, I’ve suggested and I say when we come into the office, we will legalise Okada but we will regulate it,” he added.
The former President of Ghana said while defending his stance said that “This is a service that has come to stay. Whether you legalize it or not you cannot stop it and so why behave like the ostrich and bury your head in the sand.
These okadas have created more jobs in this economy than any government job-related policy. It has created more jobs than NABCo, it has created more jobs than YEA and all those artificial job creation programs”.
But advocates of the governing NPP have argued that it’s imperative Okada Business is not sustainable and safe and only lazy thinkers will think of using it as a means to fight the unemployment menace in the country.
However, reacting to the raging debate, Franklin Cudjoe indicated that it’s imperative that Okada Business is legalized because it has touched different facets of the country and its regulation will be the best for the country.
He said “Okada must be legalised to make it safe. This touches a lot of lives”.
This position seems to be the position of workers of IMANI Ghana as Kofi Bentil who is one of the Vice Presidents of the policy think tank has also expressed similar position and has said that any government that is not ready to regulate the activities of OKADA operators is not ready to govern because OKADA business provides honest employment.
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
