According to these drivers, the recent reduction in fuel prices cannot be enough reason for the reduction in fares by 10%.

They argue that, there are several other factors when it comes to running the transport business, and until prices of spare parts and lubricants are reduced, they will not be in a position to reduce the fares.

Speaking to JoyNews, the drivers urged their leaders to reconsider the new directive.

“It is true that they have reduced the fare, but the problem we are facing is that our executives are finding it difficult to give us the prices so we are waiting for them,” one driver said.

Another added that, “we are never told when a reduction is about to take place. It was on radio that I heard of the 10% reduction.

“This reduction was not accepted by us. Our leaders did not have a sit-down with government to deliberate on this latest reduction. We didn’t see that happening this time,” another driver noted.

Meanwhile, some passengers say they are being cheated by the drivers since a hike in fuel price always results in fare increment, hence a reduction should result in a cut back.

“As far as fuel prices go down, the drivers are supposed to reduce the transport fares so that passengers can enjoy the benefit. The drivers are not being fair to the passengers,” one woman stressed.

Another male passenger added that, “I think the drivers are just interested in making profit because if fuel price has been reduced then they should also try as much as possible to reduce the fare but that is not what we are seeing here.”

Background

Transport fares were reduced by 10 percent effective Wednesday, May 17, 2023, following the recent downward trend of petroleum prices.

Road Transport Operators announced reduction in a release jointly signed by Emmanuel Ohene Yeboah, General Secretary of Ghana Road Transport Coordination Council, and Godfred Abulbire, General Secretary of Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

The new fares were to apply to shared taxis, intra-city buses, popularly called tro-tro, intercity (long distance) buses, and haulage vehicles.

The release stated that the reduction was in line with the Administrative Arrangement on Public Transport Fares, and was a response to the observed reductions in the prices of petroleum products over the period.

It urged all commercial transport operators to comply with the new fares and post them at their loading terminals.

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In a press release issued on Monday, May 15, the Road Transport Operators announced their decision. The statement, jointly signed by Emmanuel Ohene Yeboah, General Secretary of the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council, and Godfred Adulbire, General Secretary of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), emphasized that the fare adjustment aligns with the “Administrative Arrangement on Public Transport Fares,” taking into account the observed reductions in petroleum prices during this period.

The revised fares will be applicable to shared taxis, intra-city (trotro), intercity (long-distance buses), and haulage vehicles. The operators urged commercial transport providers to adhere to the new fares and display them prominently at their loading terminals.

“We kindly request all operators, commuters, and the general public to cooperate fully to ensure the successful implementation of the revised fares,” the statement further advised.

Read the entire release below:

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A military vehicle and a commercial bus (trotro) have been involved in an accident on the Dawhenya road in the Greater Accra Region.

The incident occurred on Saturday morning.

Scores of commuters were stranded as the crash led to vehicular traffic.

The cause of the accident is, however, not immediately known as details are sketchy.

Watch the video of the accident attached above:

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, the Union’s Public Relations Officer, Imoro Abbas, said they are currently engaging the government on what percentage the upward adjustment should be.

“We have no choice because we initially asked for the government to scrap some of the taxes, but they were not prepared to do that. So we have no option but to come out with an upward adjustment to lorry fares,” he told Ayisha Ibrahim on Thursday.

He further noted that the leadership of the GPRTU will meet government again since disagreements over the percentage increment have resulted in most of their meetings ending inconclusively.

“We asked for 30 per cent increment, finally we were down to 20 per cent but government stuck to 10 per cent of which we asked for more.

“Fortunately for us, there has been another upward adjustment of prices at the fuel pumps. So next week, we are going back and with what is happening now, when we go into the meeting, we will get a good rate for our people,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the Private Commercial Transport Operators has declared that effective Friday, February 18, transport fares would be increased by 30 per cent.

According to the transport owners, the decision is to save transport businesses from collapsing given the frequent upward adjustments in fuel prices.

According to her, she worked hard to achieve her status, adding that even when she was a young lawyer she had no personal car to use.

She continued by asking the Ghanaian youth to refrain from get-rich-quick schemes as she patronized ‘Trotro’ as a means of transportation when she worked as a lawyer.

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If you see someone driving a flashy car know they have suffered for it. I remember my first car was a fiat. I had to walk for a long time at Akufo-Addo & Co where I started. I was a lawyer and taking Trotro.

We have struggled and built on the little we have. Rome wasn’t built in a day. They [youth] have to put in the hard work. If you do it, you will reap the benefit. I was also selling little by little to support my craft, she said.

The video shows the lady in the middle seat of the commercial vehicle with the food in a bowl which she had covered with black polythene.

She looked unfazed as she enjoyed the meal as though it was from the comfort of her home.

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The video has garnered hilarious reactions from social media users.

Find some of the reactions below:

Watch the video below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ghanafuo•com (@ghanafuodotcom)

Information gathered from the video indicates the ‘trotro’ mate was upset with the female passenger for refusing to pay the fare with the excuse that she joined the car for a short distance.

After arriving at the destination, the woman attempted alighting, but the ‘mate’ denied her exit.

The situation escalated into a heated verbal assault on both parties, with the passenger describing the mate as a ‘desperate fool’.

The term touched the nerve of the mate who spewed out every insult he could, before attempting a punch, which was retaliated with a bite.

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After four minutes of drama and no intervention from the passengers who rather filmed the scene, the woman gave out GHS 2, only for the mate to deny her balance for time wasting.

This generated into a round-two battle which took the intervention of the driver and other bypassers to cool down, paving way for the female passenger to finally take her exit.

Watch video below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GhPage.Com (@ghpagenews)

According to police reports, a night patrol driver was said to have received a call from the control, indicating there was an ongoing robbery.

Information gathered on the scene is that two suspected thieves robbed a fruit seller and jumped unto their motorbike to escape.

But, the driver of the Urvan bus noticed the crime and knocked the robbers off the motorbike, before they plunged into a gutter.

The driver had no time to consider his car and passengers before taking the action, resulting in his car somersaulting.

Passengers, specifically those sitting on the front side, sustained injuries.

Four passengers are in serious condition while seven others, including the robbers, are being treated for their minor injuries at the Akawe Government Hospital.

A viral video has captured a trotro driver’s mate in a fierce fight with passengers onboard the vehicle.

The mate was seen forcefully pulling down two women from a sprinter bus in traffic and engaged one in a fistfight.

In the spur of the moment, he landed a slap on another woman who attempted to hold him from the back.

The fight resulted in a heated argument among all the passengers onboard who begun to move out of the vehicle.

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“I don’t like what you are doing,” were the words of the mate amid the fight.

The women resorted to throwing objects to fight back, but the mate overpowered them and it took the intervention of three men to resolve the matter.

Watch the video attached above:

The incident, which is said to have happened in Benin, Edo State of Nigeria saw the trotro driver punch the passenger for paying N50 naira, (equivalent to 75 pesewas) instead of N100.

The passenger, who was seated beside the driver in the front row, did not plead for mercy but rather reciprocated the insults.

This sparked fury as the driver revealed the elderly man is fond of forfeiting full payment anytime he boards his car.

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As their altercation became intense, the driver punched, knocked and attempted to choke the passenger before some persons came to his aid.

All attempts by the driver to get the passenger off board proved futile as the stiff-necked man insisted he will only alight when he reaches his destination.

Watch video below:

The incident happened on the morning of Saturday, May 23, 2020. The vehicle had passengers on board.

The cause of the fire is unknown for now.

In a video on Instagram, the burnt KIA truck, loaded with goods, was described as being en rout the Nsawam-Kumasi stretch of road.

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The incident attracted a lot of witnesses who helped to put out the uncontrollable fire filled with thick smoke as police personnel stood around to ensure safety.

However, details of the driver and the mate were yet to be known.

Watch the video below:

In the video, where the passengers were seen observing social distancing protocols instigated by Ghana government, this unknown man was captured abusing another passenger for protecting himself.

According to him, nose masks rather limit the intake of air into the lungs, and the hand sanitisers purported to be killing germs rather give illness.

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Get down [from the bus] and let me think. This is f**lishness. We are to inhale through our nose so how do you breathe? We are f**ls… People are washing their hands frequently like they are mad. The sanitisers can even give you illness, I am saying this on authority, he said in Twi.

Take a look at the video above:

In the video, some passengers could be seen alighting from a commercial bus, locally called Trotro after a Chinese family got on board.

All the passengers of the sprinter bus disembarked one after the other until the ‘confused’ foreigners were left alone in the bus.

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Their concerns could be attributed to the fact that the coronavirus first emerged from China, hence the need to stay distance apart from the foreign nationals.

With commercial buses, popularly known as ‘trotro’, being the most commonly used means of transport in Ghana, tips have been provided to potential patrons of trotro.

The tips are everyday stress-free health and preparedness steps that people can adopt to stay safe amid the spread of the virus.

Even though there is currently no vaccine to cure the novel coronavirus disease, the proposed way to prevent the illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus since it is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

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A common way of people contracting the virus includes respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes and it lands in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

As a result, these basic steps have been given to minimise the spread of the virus.

Below are the steps:

The driver, Francis Buabeng, said the policeman, Constable Julius Mawuli Ekpe, had assaulted him and his mate and that they had fought back after being subjected to unjustified attack.

Opening his defence in court last Friday, Mr Buabeng said it was the policeman who first attacked him.

In his narration of the incident that led to the brawl, he said the policeman tried to forcibly take possession of the keys of his vehicle from him but he resisted.

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“He got annoyed and started beating me any how. When my mate confronted him to stop, he turned his attention to him and started beating him, too.

That was when I got the opportunity to come out of the car to defend myself. At the time, he was wearing a helmet and so he gave me a head butt, which caused my lips to hurt and ooze with blood,” he said.

He pleaded with the court to discharge him because what he did was in self-defence.

Background

The case gained national attention when a video showing the driver and his mate engaged in a brawl with Constable Ekpe on the Mallam-Kasoa road in Accra went viral on both social and traditional media.

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The two were arrested on March 18, 2019, four days after the incident, and processed for court.

Maltreatment

Earlier, Mr Buabeng had told the court that they were subjected to severe maltreatment by the police when they were arrested. 
He said when he went to the Odorkor Police Station to present his medical forms from hospital, the police took the opportunity to arrest and beat him up.

He said shortly afterwards, his mate, Albert Ansah, who also came to the police station to present his medical forms, was also arrested and beaten in similar fashion.

Mr Buabeng further told the court that they were subsequently transferred to the Police Headquarters, where they were handed over to the anti-armed robbery squad and subjected to an even worse treatment.

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He said the police later took them to the offices of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

Already, the court has acquitted and discharged them of three charges — conspiracy to commit crime, causing unlawful damage and causing road obstruction.

They are to return to court on August 27, 2019.

Source: Daily Graphic