A magistrate court at Akropong in the Ashanti Region has remanded 12 people into police custody following a violent protest by some tricycle (Pragya) riders at the premises of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) on Monday.
They will reappear before the court on Tuesday (14 August).
The suspects were charged and arraigned on Tuesday (8 August) in connection with disturbances that saw properties destroyed and some six police officers wounded.
The riders hit the streets after some 46 tricycles were impounded for flouting transport restrictions at the Kumasi Central Business District (CBD). They were however resisted by the police when they marched to the KMA office to demand the release of the seized tricycles.
Security has already been beefed up at the premises of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly pointing to a planned attack. Head of the Transport Department at the KMA Randy Wilson who updated reporters on the development is urging all transport unions to use the right avenues to address their concerns.
“We have asked them to write to the chief executive and the complaints committee so that we could look at the issue and make the necessary amendments. Laws are made for human beings and if laws have been made and they are not helping us to live peacefully, they can be amended …We know it is an illegality [at the national level] but within the city, we want to regulate our mode of transport”, Wilson said.
“We expect these transport operators to comply with this directive or else the whole city would come to a halt”, he warned.
Reporting By Jonathan Ofori in the Ashanti Region
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