KUMASI DRIVERS PETITION KMA (PAGE 29)

Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi

A section of drivers in the Kumasi metropolis have petitioned the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to provide them with parking places to enhance their operations.
They have also expressed concern about alleged police harassment that culminated in the arrest of some of their members when they attempted to hold a press briefing at Bomso on Tuesday.
According to the drivers, the police did not only prevent them from holding the press briefing, which was their constitutional rights, but also assaulted and arrested some of their members without any provocation.
The drivers have therefore threatened to stage a demonstration against the KMA as a way of protest if the Assembly fails to address their concerns.
A statement issued and signed by Messrs Akwasi Poku and Matthew Bawah, spokespersons of the KNUST Taxi and Trotro concerned drivers, noted that the inability of the KMA to address the problem of parking for the commercial drivers was creating problem between the drivers and the police, leading to constant arrest and alleged extortion.
“We are concerned about the lack of parking and bus terminals on our route, which greatly impact negatively on our trade, and we register our protest over the constant harassment at the hands of police officials in the city,” the statement noted, adding that “we cannot cope with the arbitrary arrests and the continued extortion at the hands of the policemen”.
The statement noted that in effecting the arrest of commercial drivers who pick passengers at unauthorised places, the police “discriminate against us because Metro Mass buses are allowed to park anywhere, but is not the same for us”.
The statement regretted the action of the police by not only arresting some of their members, but also prosecuting them.
The statement also expressed concern about the high cost of KMA’s embossments and other form of taxes without creating a conducive environment for their operations.
The police have, however, refuted the allegation that they arrested two drivers for holding a press briefing.
The Ashanti Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, Inspector Mohammed Tanko, told the Daily Graphic that the two were arrested for organising a demonstration without informing the police about their actions.
He said they also blocked the Kumasi-Accra road and forced other drivers to join their illegal demonstration.
Explaining, Inspector Tanko said they had information that some drivers had barricaded the KNUST section of the Kumasi-Accra road with the intention of staging a demonstration against the police and the KMA.
He said under the public order act the drivers should have notified the police about their intention five days before their action “so when we had information that they had embarked on illegal demonstration and blocked the road to prevent the free flow of traffic, we dispatched men to disperse them, but they ignored our advice and this led to the arrest of two of their members”.
He denied the allegation that the police opened fire on the drivers.