COPEC criticized the Ministry of Transport ‘s instruction to the Ghana Police Service regarding the enforcement of new fare regulations, arguing that the Ministry lacks the authority to dictate fare rates.
According to COPEC’s Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, the Ministry’s directive does not address the root causes of the reported fare increases and cannot force transportation unions to adhere to the prescribed fares.
“The Transport Ministry has no basis in law to determine transport fares, especially in a deregulated market like we have, where the cost of fare is passed on and not regulated by government. The cost of insurance is simply added on year in, and year out. The cost of fuel goes up at will. As and when the dollar goes up, as and when international markets go up, as and when taxes go up, your fuel prices are rising.”
“Why is the Transport Ministry in all of these discussions? And so we think that the Transport Ministry should not arrogate onto itself constitutional powers that it does not have at present to even call for the arrest of a driver or drivers simply because they are trying to recover costs of their operation. I am not suggesting the drivers should just go ahead and charge too much, but if there is a need for them to go up in transport fare, so be it.”
Credit: CitiNewsroom
Read Also: Get Ready For More Economic Challenges – Prof Adei Warns
