Scores of commercial drivers in Ghana’s capital, Accra on Monday refused to work and blocked roads in protest against perceived corruption in the licensing regulatory body and what they called “unfriendly” new road traffic regulations.Thousands of commuters, mostly government workers, were left stranded, as the drivers jammed the roads with their vehicles to prevent other motorists from ferrying the stranded passengers.

We’ve heard that they are arresting some of the protestors and so we are going to extend it to tomorrow

The new regulations, passed in 2004 by parliament, enjoins the country’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to ensure all passengers in buses and taxis wear seat belts and drivers to have a minimum of a junior high school certificate before being licenced to drive.

The rules also require the renewal of car registration numbers every quarter, while drivers are obliged to write computerised examination before given a licence.

But the drivers claim it was virtually impossible to have all passengers strapped in seatbelts due to the structural difficulties of the kind of vehicles used in the country and the bad nature of roads that wear out the vehicles rapidly.

“The problem is not about having a certificate before you drive, certificates don’t drive cars, if you want to test driving skills you must do it practically and not bring a computer when many of us have not used one before,” a driver, Kingsley Yeboah told The Africa Report.

“You see the whole problem is about the small small money (bribes) we pay to the officers when they inspect our cars and give us roadworthy certificates, before you get a licence you have to pay.”

A lawmaker serving on the transport committee in parliament, Tetteh Chaie said the minimum education prescribed in the law did not necessarily apply to the old drivers but for the new ones yet to be issued with driving licences.

He said the new regulations were put in place to check needless accidents killing and maiming thousands of people, while the nation lost property worth millions.

“As a nation we have a duty to be dynamic in whatever we do, it is for the national good for these new laws and directives to be made,” he said.

Charles Danso, a spokesperson for the commuter omnibus operators, said “It is not illiterate drivers, who are killing people, they should repair the roads and fix the traffic lights, which have been off for over a year, they should not blame the drivers, have you seen any speed limit on the highway”.

The drivers have vowed to continue with their strike on Tuesday after some of them were arrested.

“We’ve heard that they are arresting some of the protestors and so we are going to extend it to tomorrow (Tuesday) too and we are capable of doing it,” said the drivers’ spokesperson.

But the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, the largest transport union has called on the agitated drivers to resume work following a decision by the DVLA to suspend the implementation of the policy until further notice.

The union says the government has called for the immediate suspension of the implementation of the law until further notice.