News
Shortage of functional buses slows down commuters across Ghana
Ghanaians continue to face delays in getting faster transportation to their homes before and after work due to the limited number of functional public buses in the country, especially during peak hours.
This has resulted in long queues at bus terminals, overcrowding, and increased waiting time for commuters in major cities and towns.
On the back of this, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Dorcas Affo Tuffie, in an interview at Adom FM, revealed that there are currently only 106 functional state buses operating nationwide.
She explained that the rest of the buses are nonfunctional and are currently at various repair shops.
According to her, the low number of working buses is a major reason for the transportation challenges being experienced by the public.
She noted that the shortage has made it difficult to meet the growing demand for public transport, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours.
She added that many workers and students depend on public buses to commute, and when the buses are not enough, movement becomes slow and pressure on the transport system increases.
The Deputy Minister stated that she plans to visit some of the most congested terminals and stations to assess the situation firsthand and ensure that work is done quickly to ease the pressure.
She added that by Monday many of the buses will be repaired “with the speed of light” to increase the number of functional buses on the roads.
She further explained that the Ayalolo bus system is under the management of the Local Government Ministry.
For this reason, she said the Minister of Transport is currently in dialogue with the Minister for Local Government to ensure that more Ayalolo buses are released to help reduce congestion, especially during peak hours.
Dorcas Affo Toffey assured Ghanaians that steps are being taken to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
She said that by Monday, calm is expected to prevail, as more buses would be deployed to improve transportation services across the country.
She called on commuters to remain patient while the government works to fix the challenges, stressing that the aim is to make transportation faster, safer, and more reliable for everyone.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The family of Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, a distinguished statesman and diplomat, has paid a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama. They officially informed him of his passing.
The delegation, representing the Gbeho family, noted that it was culturally and diplomatically important to formally notify the President of the loss before making a public announcement of his death.
Ambassador Gbeho was a towering figure in Ghanaian and international politics. He served in many diplomatic missions, including New York. He was Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, a Member of Parliament for the Anlo constituency, and President (formerly Executive Secretary) of the ECOWAS Commission.
He was widely respected for his role in regional integration and his contributions to global diplomacy at the United Nations.
President Mahama expressed his condolences and shared reflections on Ambassador Gbeho’s contributions to the country, West Africa and the world.
Funeral details will be announced later.
The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has revoked all firearm permits in Ghana with immediate effect and announced a new registration process for all gun owners.
The minister made the announcement on Tuesday, June 23, at the information service department saying all individuals who currently hold licences to own firearms or sidearms must undergo a fresh registration process.
“From this afternoon, all permits that have been granted to any individual that you are holding a sidearm or firearm is hereby revoked,” Mr Muntaka said.
He explained that the government had identified gaps in the country’s firearm registration system and needed to introduce stricter measures to improve public safety.
“We are opening the window where everyone will have to come forward again to register or re-register the gun because we’ve changed the procedure,” he stated.
According to him, the government decided not to wait until the end of the year to make the changes because lives could still be saved within the next six months.
The Interior Minister said one of the new requirements would be mandatory mental health screening for applicants seeking firearm licences.
“We’ve seen that people with mental health have already gone through and have the sidearm. Now we are introducing mental health. Before we give you the sidearm, we have to be sure that you have the mental stability to hold the firearms,” he said.
Mr Muntaka also announced that applicants would be required to undergo drug tests before being granted licences.
“We’ve also realised that people who are on drugs are also holding their arms and they are legitimate because it’s been registered. Now you have to go through drug tests to be sure that you are not on drugs before you can hold sidearms,” he added.
The minister said the new measures form part of efforts by the government to tighten firearm control and prevent legally registered weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
He urged all firearm owners to cooperate with the new registration process once details of the exercise are announced.
By: Jacob Aggrey
