March 25th, 2024
PUBLIC STATEMENT
By BF Couriers Association
POLICE ARRESTS ABUBAKAR SANI FOR CROSSING RED LIGHT AT KANDA HIGHWAY
The video from UTV in circulation on social media about a motor rider who has been arrested by the Police for crossing red light fails to address the pressing issues but rather to give motor riders especially commercial riders such as okada and couriers a bad name and hang it. The members of the BF Couriers Association are very displeased with such a showy exhibition which does not bring development or improvement on the standard of living in Ghana and especially among young people. Ghana police is targeting motor riders because they are easy targets to be muffled by the police and courts.
As part of our grievances, we insist that:
- Ghana Police should stop arresting and parading motor riders or okada on TV to save their own bad public image.
- The Police together with government should focus on serious offences and injustices such as extortion by the policemen and women at post, joblessness, and forceful seizure of lands from poor farmers which has contributed to poverty in rural areas and led to influx of young people into the cities.
- Motor riders with licence and necessary documents such as insurance are still arrested and extorted by policemen and women on the streets daily.
- In a harsh economic situation like ours, it is a complete waste of valuable time to send a road traffic offender to court to pay a fine instead of issuing the fine on the spot to be paid at future date but the police can’t trust its own men and women in uniform so riders have become escape goats.
- It is out of the desperation to survive that has resulted in hawkers on the streets and young men have resorted to commercial riding of motor bike to earn a living. If the government does not want commercial riders on the streets, they should be provided with stable jobs – stop chasing or parading us and deal with the root cause of the problem (Jobs).a
- As a true test of fighting crime, road offences or injustices, we will like to see the police parade its own men and women in uniform who are regular accomplices in crime and road offences. The police should go after those who violate traffic rules with impunity such as politicians with their escorts, police vehicles, bank money trucks, etc. ALL should be equal before the law. This is one of the most basic preconditions for democracy, a society which is supposed to be made up of free and EQUAL citizens. We deserve the same dignity and respect that all the big men in society arrogate and claim for themselves.
- We insist upon and demand dignity and fair treatment also because we fully deserve this. The Covid pandemic, we demonstrated the essential role that downtrodden and disregarded ordinary working people, including the hawkers, trotro drivers, mates, labourers, by-day workers, market women, students, nurses, food vendors, teachers, we the commercial riders play in delivering basic needs and livelihoods for millions of Ghanaian households. In addition, our labour and services provide profits on which many businesses and big men thrive and prosper. Yet, we are denied basic rights- not even decent minimum wages and incomes, pensions etc. The bosses and state agencies see us as expendable, second class citizens who can be harassed and bullied anyhow. We call on all of us to stand together in solidarity, and stand up against the inequality and injustices that is dividing and threatening our society. Let’s organise for our rights. Our welfare, and that of our families and communities depends on this. So does any possibility of attaining a decent society and laws that serve us all for our common benefit.