Wanton Transport Fare Increases In Accra

There has been an arbitrary increase in transport fares especially in the Accra Metropolis and other parts of the country for the last three weeks. In some cases the fares have been raised by between 10 and 15 percent.

For example, the Accra-Legon-Madina route is now ?800 while Accra_Adenta route is between ?1,300 and ?1,500 instead of the approved ?800 and ?900. Some drivers who ply the Tema Station-Agege-Banana Inn route take ?750 instead of ?650. Those who alight at Korle-Bu and Mamprobi now pay ?600 instead of ?500. Trotro fare from Circle to Dansoman Last Stop has also been increased to ?1,000 from ?700. This reporter was a victim of the illegal fares charged by some of the drivers. He was charged ?600 from Akoto Lante to Korle-Bu instead of ?500. When he insisted that the fare was ?500, the driver?s mate maintained that he would take nothing less than ?600.

When contacted, Mr E.A. Cudjoe, acting Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), confirmed reports of the arbitrary increase and warned all drivers not to charge above the approved government fares. He warned that the GPRTU would deal with any union driver who engaged in such illegal acts. Consequently, he said any driver found to be charging unapproved fares would be sanctioned, including withdrawal of his loading rights at the stations operated by the union. According to Mr Cudjoe, the GPRTU, by its circular dated November 29, sent to all its branches throughout the country, asked all its members to continue to charge existing fares until they were officially notified or informed of any upward adjustment in the transport.

He said on November 25, the Ghana Road Transport Co-ordinating Council (GRCC) under which the various road transport bodies operate, submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Roads and Transport for an upward adjustment in transport fares but the Ministry was yet to send a feed-back. ?It is therefore surprising to hear reports that drivers have already increased fares on some routes?, the acting Regional Chairman said.