The Ghana Private Road Transport Union ( GPRTU ) has announced a 19% raise in transportation charges beginning October 29.
According to Godfred Abulbire, General Secretary of the Union, the increase is owing to recent increases in fuel prices, as well as the Cedi’s current depreciation.
In an appearance with the AM Show on Wednesday,26th October, 2022, he claimed that the Union will publish a statement later to inform passengers of the latest fare adjustments.
He stated that the 19% increase was agreed upon by GPRTU following thorough discussions with President Akufo-Addo and other transport providers across the country.
Read Also: Thousands displaced as fighting flares in DR Congo
Mr Abulbire stated that, despite having grounds to charge more, his organization heeded to the President’s request to revise their suggested 49%.
Explaining the increment, he said, “What we should have been asking adequately should have been around 49%. But looking at the economic situation, we had to come down to 25% and then even scale down to 20% and then yesterday 16½% [from the Minister].
After discussing with the President, he said all that we’re saying are facts. And that there’s nothing there that he’s not aware of. But looking at the situation, the moment fares go up, it [affects] a lot of things”, he explained.
The GPRTU General Secretary continued, “And so as a father, the President was asking us to reconsider our decision and see if we could take the 16% offered by the Minister. But we said that was actually a problem … So we all agreed that we’ll take off 1% and we’ll accept 19% and that’s how the meeting concluded”.
“We said the 20% was just still a consideration … So we agreed and said we’ll waive off that 1%. Today we’ll be issuing out a communiqué and then it will take effect on Saturday coming [29th October]”, he added.
The GPRTU raise comes at a time when many Ghanaians are already bearing the brunt of the system’s difficulties.
Many people are pleading with the government to take immediate action to ease their suffering.
Meanwhile, Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has called on residents to gather in large numbers for a protest against the Akufo-Addo regime.
The demonstration is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on November 5 at the Obra Spot near the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange (Circle).
The admitted government critic declared in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the protest is intended to force President Akufo-Addo to quit as head of state.
According to him, the exercise will be a reenactment of the historic ‘Kumi Pre Ko’ march against the then-Rawlings regime in 1995, in which Akufo-Addo was a key figure.
He expressed sympathy for a guy who committed suicide at Kasoa Galilea, ostensibly due to the country’s difficulty, and urged citizens to support the action.
SOURCE: myjoyonline
