The former road toll collectors decided to sleep at the premises of the ministry two years after being rendered jobless by the abolition of road toll collection in Ghana.
According to the protesters, they decided to enter the reception area of the ministry to wait for the minister, Kwasi Amoako-Attah only for them to be arrested and bused to the police station by officers. Before their arrest and subsequent release on Wednesday, November 15, they had been warned against entering the ministry’s main premises because it was “a security zone”.
They say they had no option but to embark on the picketing because life has not been easy for them since they lost their jobs unexpectedly following the abrupt announcement of a ban on road toll collection, which served as a source of livelihood for them.
In November 2021, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the Minister of Roads and Highways announced a ban on road toll collection after an earlier announcement by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta during the 2022 budget presentation.
Persons with disability who had been working as toll collectors lost their jobs, and despite a promise to reassign them, some of them remain unemployed to date.
They are asking the government to pay them their arrears to enable them to start new businesses for themselves if it would not reinstate them to continue the toll collection job.
They alleged that some of their colleagues who are political loyalists of the government have been reassigned while the rest have remained jobless for the past two years.
According to them, they do not see any commitment by the government to help them, hence the decision to sleep at the Roads Ministry.