Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Sam George has directed an immediate halt of the enforcement of the regulation which required courier riders to be licensed before operations.
The Ghana Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, August 20 launched a strict operation in Accra targeting unlicensed courier operators, effecting arrests and seizing motorbikes.
The Minister in a post on X, Thursday, August 21 said although the activity is to bring some sanity and order to the use of motorbikes for delivery purposes, stakeholder engagement is needed before any enforcement.
“I have directed this afternoon an immediate halt to the ongoing enforcement action by the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission. The action in conjunction with the Ghana Police is a necessary activity to bring some sanity and order to the use of motorbikes for delivery purposes as stipulated by law.
“However, I believe the Commission needs to do more stakeholder engagements and public sensitisation before the enforcement activities commence,” he wrote.
Sam George the law must be enforced a humane face. “I would in the coming days have meetings with the various stakeholders and fashion out an agreeable roadmap to implementation,” he stated.
His directives comes after a group of concerned courier motor riders petitioned the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Malik Basintale, following recent enforcement actions by the Ghana Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission.
Read also: Courier riders petition YEA over high licensing fees and arrests by Postal Commission
Several motorbikes were seized during the exercise, which the Commission described as part of efforts to sanitize the courier industry.
In response, the riders, together with their union, stormed the offices of the YEA on Thursday, August 21, to register their displeasure.
They argued that the cost of acquiring a courier license was prohibitively high and unfair, especially given their low-income levels.
The riders further pointed out that, unlike drivers on e-hailing platforms such as Uber and Bolt—who operate with only their driver’s license courier riders are required to obtain additional licenses at a high cost.
They described this as discriminatory and called for a review.
Appealing directly to Malik Basintale, the petitioners urged the YEA to intervene on their behalf and engage the Postal and Courier Services Commission to reduce licensing fees to a more affordable level.
They emphasized that without such interventions, many of them could lose their livelihoods, further worsening unemployment among young people in the country.
