Police and military officers clash with ‘pragyia’ drivers over restrictions

Police and military officers on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, morning clashed with pragyia (tricycle) drivers at the entrance of Racecourse Market for refusing to obey Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) orders banning them from entry into the business center in Kumasi.

Police officers on duty fired several warning shots to separate the cloud that have blocked the main road leading to Kejetia and the Central Business District (CBD) in a form of protest against the city authorities, for what they term as discriminately.

KMA set Monday, July 31, 2023, as the deadline for the banning of tricycles to operate at the CBD as a way of congestion the area and curbing indiscipline among the pragyia operators.

Some of the aggrieved drivers when speaking to Otec News reporter Simon Opoku Afriyie lamented that the action by the authorities is political twisted against them whom they regard as National Democratic Congress (NDC) members.

“One of the KMA guards told me that we are NDC people so we should go back to the North and work, and since here (Kumasi) is New Patriotic Party (NPP) stronghold they won’t allow us to work here,” pragyia rider said.

The drivers denied been the cause of traffic congestions in the city, a blame they rather attributed to the city authorities who sell pedestrian walks and road sides to traders to sell their wares causing both vehicular and human traffic.

“The KMA guards have been collecting bribes from commercial drivers and traders to occupy pavements and unapproved areas. If they stop these illegal acts the city will be free from congestions,” they allegedly said.

The tricycle operators maintained that ban will render most of them jobless which will adversely affect them, a situation if not well managed, will lead to increase rate of crime in the city.

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Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com