About 80 taxi drivers plying their trade in Accra have been arrested for embarking on illegal demonstrations today.

The drivers are protesting a directive for them to register and regularize their activities with various unions in the capital.  They complain of already paying huge sums of monies for their road worthy, insurance and other taxes. According to them, paying for other unbudgeted services would have a toll on their finances.

But Greater Regional Police Command Monday morning swooped on these drivers for breaching the Public Order Act.

DSP Freeman Tettey with the Police Public Affairs Directorate confirmed to Joy News that the drivers were arrested in various metropolitan and municipal assemblies in the Greater Accra Region.

Eleven were arrested in Nima, 31 in Dansoman and the rest in Teshi Tsui Bleoo and other police divisions, he said.

He explained that the demonstrating drivers should have notified the police “five clear days” before embarking on the exercise.

Some of the arrested drivers, he said, “engaged in acts of vandalism”: attacking other vehicles and destroying properties.

A number of them have been given police enquiry bail but those who could not get people to stand surety for them are still in custody, DSP Tettey said, adding that some would be arraigned tomorrow.

Information picked up by Joy News indicates more drivers intend hitting the streets to register their protest over the new directive but the police is cautioning them to act lawfully.

Meanwhile, Director of Communications at the Ghana Urban Transport Project, Kojo Antwi tells Joy News taxi drivers who fail to regularise their operations will be sanctioned.

He noted that the by-law on the policy was passed by the various assemblies in 2010 and education has been ongoing since then, however, the impact is being felt now because of the harmonised approach.

Mr Antwi said two main concerns raised by the drivers have been factored into the by-law.

The drivers, he said, had initially feared they would be limited in operation to the particular assembly they register with. He explained, irrespective of the recognised assembly one is unionised, a driver can operate anywhere within the region, assuring that “you will not be arrested, you will not be stopped”.

The other concern was the fact that there were no enough spaces at the already limited terminals in the capital. In his response, Mr Antwi informed them that no driver is being asked to start his operation from a terminal.

“We recognise the operations of floating drivers, they move around they don’t need to be in a station but we want to track them to a particular entity or union,” he remarked.

He also expressed his outfit’s own concern about the difficulty they face in reaching out to such floating drivers in their education drive. “If they are together it will be easy to get information to them and have database of whoever is operating within our jurisdiction”.

He told Myjoyonline.com that drivers belonging to recognised unions like the GPRTU have adequately been educated and are complying with the directive.