Ghana transport fares rise 8% as unions warn overcharging drivers and coin shortage fuels rounding up

Pinned summary · as of 04:54

Passenger fares on commercial transport in Ghana went up by 8% from Saturday, 26 September, following talks between operators and the Ministry of Transport. The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) says it has accepted the new rate, and some passengers say they are being charged slightly more than it allows, which the Ghana Road Transport Coordinated Council (GRTCC) links partly to a scarcity of coins.

What we know

• An 8% rise in transport fares has been announced, and the GPRTU has agreed to work with it for now. It took effect on Saturday, 26 September, after operators consulted the Ministry of Transport.
• Before the 8% was settled, the GPRTU had put forward a much larger rise of 30%. Its Deputy Public Relations Officer, Samuel Amoah, later said the union accepted 8% for now but would go back to the table if petroleum prices climbed further.
• Operators tied the increase to higher fuel prices and running costs. The union is pushing operators to obey the approved rate. Its Public Relations Officer, Samuel Amoah, said sanctions are in place for drivers who overcharge, and the Upper West Region branch asked passengers to report those who try to.
• Some passengers have complained of paying above the approved 8%. On a route where the old fare was GH₵50, they said they were charged GH₵55, not the GH₵54 an exact 8% rise would produce.
• The GRTCC's General Secretary, Emmanuel Ohene Yeboah, said too few coins are in circulation for exact change, so some operators round fares up. He said the council knows of the complaints, has stationed officers at terminals and gave operators a template showing old and new fares.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Reports differ on what the 8% covers. Rainbow Radio Online quoted Mr Amoah as saying only petroleum prices were counted because spare-part prices had held steady since last year, while MyJoyOnline and The Press Radio reported operators and the two bodies citing spare parts and other costs as well.
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  Mr Amoah said on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM that a task force is watching stations, that security officers arranged via the Transport Ministry would be added to its patrols, that member drivers caught overcharging face suspension, and that some offenders are not union members. No other report describes this arrangement, and the ministry has not been quoted.
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  The Press Radio published an approved fare schedule, for example a GH₵5 trotro fare becoming GH₵5.50, a GH₵10 fare becoming GH₵11, while a short shared-taxi hop of up to four kilometres costs GH₵2.90, against GH₵2.60 before. It also reported that the rise covers shared taxis, trotros and inter-city services, and that unions told operators to display the fares at terminals. No other report carries these figures.
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  The Press Radio reported transport unions saying government action on diesel prices helped keep the increase smaller. Graphic Online separately quoted a regional union official saying the government promised steps to lower fuel prices. Neither claim has been confirmed by the government.
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  Mr Amoah, the GPRTU Public Relations Officer, said fares could climb past 8% if petroleum prices cross an agreed threshold, and that the union would return to the negotiating table for more. Only Rainbow Radio Online carried this, and it is a conditional forecast.
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  In the Upper West Region, Alhaji Nuhu Mahama, the GPRTU's Senior Industrial Officer there, appealed for calm, said the union had long wanted an adjustment because operating costs were rising, and said the government had promised steps to bring fuel prices down. Graphic Online alone carried this account, and the government has not been quoted.
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  Graphic Online quoted individuals in Wa on new prices: driver Mohammed Awal put the Wa-Techiman fare at GH₵140, up from GH₵130; driver Gofred Dasaah said Wa-Kintampo went from GH₵150 to GH₵170; and passenger Humu Issah said Wa-Jirapa moved from GH₵50 to GH₵55. These are individual accounts from a single report and have not been checked against official fare tables.
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  Mr Awal and Mr Dasaah told Graphic Online that fewer passengers are turning up at the Wa station since the change, and Mr Dasaah asked the government to act quickly on fuel prices. Ms Issah said the extra cost was outside her budget but she had to pay to travel. This rests on one publication's interviews.

Why it matters for Ghana

Trotro and long-distance fares are a weekly expense for workers, traders and students, so even a single-digit rise adds up for households in Accra, Wa and beyond. Rounding up because of missing coins means commuters may pay a little more than the schedule says, and the fare template and terminal monitoring are meant to help them check what is due. Drivers, for their part, say thinner passenger numbers could hurt their earnings. Because the union links any further increase to petroleum prices, movements at the pump could decide whether commuters face another adjustment.