The Member of Parliament for the Tain Constituency, Hon. Sulemana Adama, has welcomed the passage of the Road Traffic Amendment Bill into law, describing it as a fulfilled promise that will expand economic opportunities for young people while improving transport coverage across the country.
Speaking in an interview with parliamentnews360.com, Hon. Adama noted that the new law, which regularises the commercial use of motorcycles and tricycles—popularly known as Okada—introduces clear safeguards to address safety and social concerns.
According to him, the law sets a minimum age of 21 years for persons seeking to engage in the Okada business, a provision he believes protects school-going children from dropping out to pursue commercial riding.
“We don’t take people out of school—people who are in school—to come and engage in these services. So I believe that economically, it increases opportunities for our young people,” he said.
The Tain MP stressed that beyond job creation, the law provides additional safety measures for riders and passengers, while also expanding transportation access, particularly in underserved areas.
“It provides additional safety measures for our young people, and we are also going to increase coverage and opportunities for transportation. So I believe that it’s a well-delivered promise and offers more economic opportunity for our youth,” he added.
Hon. Adama rejected claims that Parliament ignored the risks associated with commercial motorcycle operations, explaining that the law contains specific provisions to mitigate them.
“If you go through the bill that has been passed for the President’s assent, you will realise that these risk factors have been taken into consideration. You need some safety measures in order to operate an Okada—it’s not just blanket approval,” he explained.
He acknowledged that while all forms of transport carry risks, Parliament has taken responsibility to reduce those risks through regulation.
“There is risk in all transport means, but the safety measures are very critical. Parliament has taken responsibility to put in place measures to ameliorate the risks associated with this business,” he noted.
The MP further indicated that the new law will make it easier for Members of Parliament to support and empower young people engaged in the Okada business, now that it is no longer illegal.
“As a Member of Parliament, it was sometimes very difficult to empower young people when some of the things they were doing were illegal. Now that we have legal backing, it empowers us,” he said.
He revealed that organised Okada riders’ associations already exist across the Tain Constituency and called for efforts to regularise and resource them.
“What we need to do now is to regularise them and resource them to help them acquire tricycles and quadricycles to empower them economically,” Hon. Adama stated.
He concluded that while Okada operations had already been ongoing informally, the passage of the law now gives the practice legitimacy and structure.
“This law gives meaning to what already existed. We are good to go because there is now legal backing,” he affirmed.
Watch the full video of the interview with the MP for Tain below:
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
