‘The nation failed us’ – Okada Riders’ PRO defends young riders caught between survival and the law
Public Relations Officer of the Okada Riders Association, Evans Wadja, said for years, operating an Okada in Ghana meant operating outside the law and outside any formal support system too. Speaking on Lifestyle with Rosie, Wadja pushed back firmly on the narrative that riders alone are to blame for the chaos long associated with the […]
The nation's failure is a key theme in Okada Riders' PRO, Evans Wadja's defense of his members. Operating an Okada in Ghana has historically meant flouting the law and lacking formal support. Wadja criticized the narrative placing sole blame on riders, emphasizing Ghana's lack of any institution to train commercial motorbike riders.
Thousands entered the trade due to unemployment, with infractions often framed as recklessness rather than consequences of being untrained. The Association's history with police is fraught; riders pledged to follow traffic signals but demanded fairer treatment, alleging riders avoided red lights to evade harassment. Host Rosemary Aboagye Ntim challenged the framing, mentioning a rider with two children without helmets shortly after the legalisation process began.
Wadja's response, that the rider might not have been an Okada operator, was not immediately verified. Wadja detailed a membership vetting process requiring a Ghana Card, two family guarantors, and verification of the rider's base station, liaising with the Ghana Police Service to check criminal records. He acknowledged the limits of self-regulation and the necessity of coordination between government, police, and riders for the legalisation's success.
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