Transport services in the Berekum East Municipality has come to a grinding halt as drivers belonging to the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) began a sit-down strike.
The industrial action follows the arrest of a Goka-route driver on Monday, February 23, amidst a brewing dispute over station relocation.
The strike has left hundreds of commuters stranded, turning the popular Berekum Main Station into a scene of parked vehicles and frustrated passengers.
The immediate trigger for the boycott was the detention of a union colleague.
According to the local drivers, the arrest was not a standard traffic offense but a tactical move by the Berekum Municipal Assembly to intimidate the union.
”What the Assembly is doing to our driver is worrying,” said Kwasi Poku, a spokesperson for the aggrieved drivers.
“We cannot sit idly by while we are treated this way. Until our brother is released, not a single engine will start.”
The friction between the Assembly and the drivers extends beyond the arrest.
A deeper conflict exists regarding the Assembly’s plan to relocate GPRTU drivers from the Berekum Main Station to a new site.
Drivers argue that as the first union to establish the Berekum Main Station, they hold a “pioneer right” to the location.
Osei Kwame, a veteran driver, explained that the Assembly is attempting a forced eviction.
”They want to kick us out of the station we built; this arrest was just the final provocation,” Kwame stated.
The drivers perceive the Assembly’s actions as a direct threat to their livelihoods and have called on the central government to intervene and mediate the impasse.
The strike is already rippling through the local economy, hitting commuters, hawkers, and small-scale vendors hard.
”Our bread will go stale if the buses don’t move,” lamented a bread seller at the station.
“This strike is affecting our daily bread. We are pleading with the Municipal Chief Executive and the Union leaders to settle this matter quickly.”
The GPRTU leadership maintains that the strike will remain in effect indefinitely. Commuters traveling towards Goka, Drobo, and surrounding areas are advised to seek alternative transport or delay travel until the Assembly and the Union reach a compromise.
