The government is to introduce a new licensing regime for motorcycle and tricycle riders to regulate their oper­ations, the Minister of Transport, Mr Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has said.

He explained that under the new licensing regime, the police service would be empowered to ensure that motorcycle and tricycle riders adhered to road traffic laws.

Additionally, Mr Nikpe said motorcycle and tricycle riders would be put into unions under the new licensing regime to collaborate with the police service and would include a data base of all motorcy­cles and tricycles.

The Minister said this in an interview with journalists at a na­tional stakeholder consultation held in Accra yesterday on the review of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 L.I. 2180.

Mr Joseph BukariNikpe (middle) with stakeholders during the meeting Photo Seth Osabukl

Organised by the Ministry of Transport, the stakeholder con­sultation brought together repre­sentatives from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), and the Okada Riders Association.

It allowed the participants to make inputs on the proposed amendment of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 L I. 2180, par­ticularly, the provisions on the use of motorcycles and tricycles for fare-paying passenger services in the country.

According to Mr Nikpe, some of the provisions in the regulations would cover the mandatory use of helmets, periodic inspections, and rider training.

“Motorcycles and tricycles cannot be restricted to terminals or parking lots, but they will have places where you can identify that this is a motorcycle or tricycle ter­minal or slots that they can use on a daily basis,” Mr Nikpe said.

Moreover, he said that the licens­ing of motorcycles and tricycles as well as their registration was not going to be done by the private sector but would be under the DVLA.

The next step after the stake­holder consultation, Mr Nikpe said, would be the presentation of the proposed amendment to the subsidiary of the Legislation Committee and the Attorney-Gen­eral Department for drafting, after which it would finally be laid in Parliament for consultation.

He said that the utmost prior­ity of the government was the safety and welfare of riders and passengers, and therefore urged all relevant stakeholders in the trans­port and road sectors to make the necessary input to the proposed amendment.

The Director of Regulations, In­spection and Compliance, NRSA, Mr Kwame Koduah Atuahene, said although concerns had been raised about the effectiveness of the proposed amendment of the Road Traffic Regulation 2012, L.I. 2180 to regularise operations of motorcycles and tricycles, Ghana could learn from other countries where its implementation had been successful.

For his part, the National President of the National Union of Tricycle Operators of Ghana, Mr Hamza Hafiz, commended the government for the move to regu­larise the operations of motorcycle and tricycle government.