The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has announced a 19% increase in transportation fares beginning October 29.
According to Godfred Abulbire, General Secretary of the Union, the increase is due to recent increases in fuel prices, as well as the Cedi’s current depreciation.
In an interview with the AM Show on Wednesday, he stated that the Union will issue a statement later today informing commuters of the latest fare adjustments.
He stated that the 19% increase was agreed upon by the Union following extensive discussions with President Akufo-Addo and other transport operators across the country.
Mr. Abulbire stated that, despite having grounds to charge more, his organization listened to the President’s request to revise their proposed 49%.
He explained the increase by saying, “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 listening to the President, he said all that we’re saying is 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 said.
The GPRTU General Secretary went on to say, “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 hardship.
Many people are pleading with the government to take immediate action to alleviate their suffering.
Meanwhile, Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has called on citizens to gather in large numbers for a protest against the Akufo-Addo regime.
