Kumasi Residents Continue To Wrangle Over Fuel Price Increase

Almost a month after the recent fuel price increases, drivers and passengers continue to wrangle over fares in the Kumasi Metropolis. It was quite a disturbing scene at Atonsu, a suburb of Kumasi on Wednesday, when the driver and passengers on a Mercedes Benz bus with registration number AS 6413 C, for more than 30 minutes, noisily haggled over 20 pesewas. The driver would not accept anything less than 40 pesewas, regardless of where a passenger’s gets down and this they felt was cheating and unlawful. Miss Rita Bonsu, a National Service Personnel, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) appealed to the transport associations to call their members to order. “My sister, the going is tough for everybody and these drivers should not be allowed to shortchange us and add to our economic woes.” She said she found it difficult to rationalize why the drivers were simply refusing to charge the approved fares. Miss Bonsu added that they were being lawless and the authorities needed to act decisively to rein them in and end the impunity. Another passenger, Kofi Badu, second-hand clothes seller, said the situation where passengers paid about three times the fare to get to their destination was worrying.