Henry Quartey shouldn’t act ultra vires – Agbodza
Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu Constituency, has said Mr Herny Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, has no legal backing to restrict the movement of vehicles on highways in the Accra metropolis.
Fuming with anger, Mr Agbodza, who is also the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Roads and Transport, accused the Regional Minister of acting ultra vires by directing that the tricycles, otherwise known locally as “aboboyaa” should not ply the Accra Tema motorway effective 1st November 2021.
The directive, the Minister said, was part of the “Let’s make Accra Work” campaign, a project to bring all and sundry together to ensure a collective agenda in the quest of ensuring cleanliness, welfare and discipline in the region.
“Effective November 1, tricycles cannot and will not be allowed to ride on the motorway. So, after the 90 days period, they will be restricted to their respective assemblies rather than on the principal streets… effective November 1, as for the Tema Motorway they cannot ride on it, they can continue their business in other areas,” Mr Quartey announced.
In a reaction, Mr Agbodza, told a press conference at Parliament in Accra, that the Minister does not have the legal power to issue such a directive.
“With the specific issue about my colleague suggesting that at a point in time next year, they are not going to allow ‘Aboboyaa’, in other words, tricycles that carry refuse from household and other things with the attempt to take them to Tema where the recycling plant is,” Mr Agbodza said.
“Let him [Henry Quartey] be aware that he is overstepping the authority under his watch. There is no law in this country to determine which vehicles drive on which roads. That is within the purview of the National Road Safety Authority and the Ministry of Roads and Transport,” Mr Agbodza added.
He added: “You are aware the reason the aboboyaa are doing that, is because that is where the treatment plant is.”
Mr Agbodza said the dearth of treatment plants within Accra itself is the reason the tricycles ply the Accra Tema Motorway to the Kpone Treatment Plant.
“If you see them on the highway going to Tema, is simply because there is no other place, they can dump it. So, if the Minister says somewhere next year, they are going to stop them, let him be aware he is overstepping the authority under his watch.”
In counter reaction, Mr Kennedy Osei Nyarko, the Chairman for the Roads and Transport Committee, who is also the MP for Akim Swedru, has justified the ban.
He said the Assemblies are within their rights to enact laws to ban the Aboboyaas.
Mr Nyarko said the ban on tricycles on highways has been in the law since 2012.
Source: GNA