At least 10 tricycle operators have been arrested after clashing with city guards as the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) began the implementation of a ban on tricycle movement in the Central Business District (CBD).
Heavy police and military presence has been deployed in the marked-out areas to enforce the ban.
The KMA announced the directive to restrict tricycles from operating within the CBD to address congestion issues in the metropolis.
Tricycle riders opposed the decision, but the head of the transport department at KMA, Randy Wilson, emphasized the assembly’s commitment to the directive.
Wilson cited that tricycles were not legally allowed for commercial purposes according to traffic regulations and added that the city needed to take steps to limit certain activities due to congestion concerns.
“KMA is supposed to plan and regulate public transport within its area of jurisdiction,” Wilson said, adding, “On April 29, 2023, at a general assembly meeting, it was resolved that the transport reorganization that has been planned should ensure that we have the unstrung stations, the normal union stations that are operating from terminals, the cargo vehicles, and then we also added the tricycles as providers of public transport services.”
“We started engagements with the tricycle operators,” Wilson continued, “Legally, from the traffic regulations 2180, tricycles are not supposed to be used for commercial purposes. So from the national level, it is an illegality.
The KMA had initially planned to implement the ban on June 15, 2023, but it deferred the date to allow for ongoing sensitization activities.
The assembly’s Public Relations Officer, Henrietta Afia Konadu Aboagye, clarified that the directive was a restriction rather than a complete ban, and the assembly would enforce it with checkpoints and vehicle impoundments for those who defy the ban.
“The directive is not a ban, but a restriction on their movement in the CBD. So we met with their executives on May 9 to let them know that the move was to reduce congestion in the CBD. They asked for some time to speak with their members.”
“We realized that the education took a bit longer, so the directive which was scheduled to take effect on the 15th, cannot take effect. We are still in the process of sensitization,” she said.
“The recalcitrant ones who will force their way into the CBD will have their vehicles impounded and taken to the Central Police Station or the assembly’s towing site, where they will be fined,” she added.