The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Office of the Vice President have jointly launched Tap n’ Go, a digital taxi service for Ghanaian taxi drivers, in Accra.
The Tap n’ Go app functions similarly to well-known ride-hailing apps like Uber, Yango, and Bolt. It can be downloaded from the Google Playstore and the Apple App Store. Before it is fully implemented across the country the following year, the developers say it is now being tested in a few Accra neighborhoods (Airport, East Legon, University of Ghana, Circle/Kaneshie area, and Dansoman).
Speaking at the app’s launch in Accra on Thursday, December 14, 2023, GPRTU National Chairman Nana Nimako Bresiamah said the GPRTU and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia worked together to create the app because the latter heard their worries about losing business to foreign online taxi services.
He disclosed that the GPRTU met with Dr. Bawumia to express their concerns after numerous foreign taxi apps had a detrimental impact on Ghanaian taxi drivers’ operations. The Vice President promised them a solution, which he claimed had been fulfilled.
The Chairman thanked Dr. Bawumia profusely on behalf of the GPRTU for his concern and intervention.
“We want to express our utmost gratitude to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the concern he showed when we met him and also for intervening on our behalf through this app to aid our business. This is our own. The other apps are controlled by foreign interests but this is our own and it is truly Ghanaian.”
“I want to caution drivers or members of GPRTU not to use the app in a negative way to extort Ghanaians. We want to operate this app effectively and professionally to offer Ghanaians great service so that we will continue to protect the integrity of the GPRTU,” he said.
Speaking at the launch, a number of taxi drivers expressed their happiness and thanked Vice President Bawumia for helping them salvage their failing company.
John Kofi Tawiah, a taxi driver in Kaneshie said: “I want to thank Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for this great initiative. The truth is that we’re losing jobs through the many apps. Now we have our own app and this will help us because we will not be roaming around wasting fuel to look for passengers.”
Another taxi driver, George Nii Ayi Tagoe, who operates at the University of Ghana, Legon Campus, said: “We want to thank Dr. Bawumia for getting our taxi business online. For us on the Legon campus, this will help us because we were completely losing business to online taxi apps. Now the competition will be favourable.”
GPRTU Deputy PRO Samuel Amoah expressed his gratitude to the Vice President and the GPRTU leadership for hearing his concerns and supporting him.
“This is a very good app and we want to express our gratitude to the leadership of the GPRTU for taking this initiative to discuss our plight with Vice President Bawumia. And we thank Dr. Bawumia too for helping us with this Tap and Go app,” said the Deputy PRO.
He added: “We park at the stations for hours without patronage and when they roam around in town too, they waste fuel, due to foreign taxi companies online. This will help us and Vice President Bawumia for his intervention.”
