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The Metro Mass Transit Limited is a public transportation company in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. The company was set up to provide reliable and affordable means of transport for commuters within villages, towns, and cities as well as provide intercity movement.
Early Days
Public bus companies have operated in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
since the Omnibus Service Authority (OSA) started its operations in 1927. The OSA contributed a lot to the Ghanaian society in terms of public transport. However, OSA's assets were divested in 1995.
Conception
Metro Mass Transit (MMT) arose from an idea from President
John Kufuor
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008.
Kufuor's career has been sp ...
who spoke of the need of introducing a mass transit bus system in the cities of Ghana at his inauguration speech on 7 January 2001. President Kufuor directed the re-introduction of public mass transport in the metropolitan and municipal areas to ensure the safe, affordable, efficient and reliable transport of commuters. Since then, the government has been actively promoting public mass transportation.
Metro Mass Transit Limited was officially incorporated in 2003. The shareholders include the
SIC Insurance Company,
National Investment Bank
National Investment Bank, normally abbreviated to NIB, is a state owned commercial bank in Ghana. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Bank of Ghana, the national banking regulator.
NIB is a medium-sized financial services provider ...
,
Ghana Oil Company
Ghana Oil Company, known as GOIL, is a state-owned Ghanaian oil and gas marketing company, formed on 14 June 1960. Currently it holds the place of Ghana's top oil marketing company, and is the only indigenous owned petroleum marketing company i ...
,
Agriculture Development Bank,
Prudential Bank Limited
Prudential Bank Limited (PBL), commonly known as Prudential Bank, is a private commercial bank in Ghana. It is licensed by the Bank of Ghana, the central bank and national banking regulator.
Location
The headquarters of the bank is located at ...
and
Social Security and National Insurance Trust
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust, is an agency of the government of Ghana. Its job description, according to itwebsite is to administrate the National Pension Scheme. In so doing, the trust owns major amounts of stock in Ghana's ...
. These together have 55% shareholding. The Government of Ghana holds the remaining 45% shares.
Alleged Corruption Cases
The managing director (MD) of Metro Mass Transit is alleged to have been caught in a secret audio recording, where he tried to bribe or pay off the whistle blower on how he the MD has sold vehicles that could be repaired as spoiled vehicles.
Operational Areas
Since the introduction of the Metro Mass Transit, the following areas have benefited from the service:
*
Accra Metropolitan Area
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
*
Tema Metropolitan Area
*
Kumasi Metropolitan Area
*
Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Area
*
Tamale Metropolitan Area
*
New Juaben Municipal Area
*
Sunyani Municipal Area
*
Cape Coast Metropolitan Area
*
Agona West Municipal Area
*
Ho Municipal Area
*
Wa Municipal Area
*
Bolgatanga Municipal
*
Birim Central Municipal Area
Fleet Size
MMT at the moment has a fleet of buses made up of
Yaxing,
DAF
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...
,
Neoplan
Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It is a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE.
History Foundations
The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter in Stuttgart in 1935, and ma ...
VDL,
VDL Jonckheere, VDL Dutch, and
Iveco
IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger o ...
buses. It is expected that the size of the fleet will reach 1,000 by the end of the year 2008.
:
The Fiat-Iveco buses were donated by the Italian Government and helped a great deal during the pilot phase. These buses have played their part and are being phased out.
The Yaxing buses were manufactured in China and supported by the Ghana Government. On 13 April 2006, MMT received 150 Yaxing buses from the Ministry of Roads and Transport (MRT) to augment the MMT fleet. This brought the total number of Yaxing buses received to 400 and the total operational MMT fleet to over 600. As of early 2016 all Yaxing buses have been scrapped and are no longer in service.
All DAF & VDL buses have been financed through an ORET Grant agreement between the Dutch Government and Ghana. Thirty-five percent of the value is a gift of the Dutch Government whilst 65% has been provided as a loan. All DAF Neoplaan & VDL Neoplan buses are manufactured at the Neoplan factory in Kumasi.
Passengers Carried
MMT carried almost 40 million passengers nationwide from January to October 2007 over . MMT buses have carried 36,456,300 passengers nationwide and have given 3,724,644 school children free ride.
Operational Issues
A pilot Bus Rapid Transit project in Accra, connecting Adenta with the Central Business District and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, carrying over 20,000 passengers a day commenced in September 2005. The buses operate every 15 minutes and tickets are sold in advance.
Mission & Vision
Mission
The mission of MMT is to provide an efficient urban mass transport system in Ghana through the use of buses.
Vision
To build a dominant, reliable, efficient, safe and affordable yet an economically sustainable mass transit public bus company in Ghana. MMT also aims to introduce the Bus Rapid Transit System into Ghana.
Job Creations
MMT has grown to be one of the major employers in Ghana. MMT's current staff strength of around 2,474 is expected to exceed 3000 by the end of 2008 with the arrival of about 258 buses. Janitorial services, security, bus washing and cleaning are outsourced to third parties providing employment for additional 500 persons. On account of the construction of the buses in Kumasi, several indirect jobs have been created in the manufacturing sector. In general productivity of the workforce in Ghana would increase, since MMT can offer fast and reliable transport from home to the workplace. Moreover, the operations of MMT would empower the Ghanaian community by making job, shop, school and healthcare better accessible.
Awards
In the year 2013, MMT won the International Transport Awards. It also won the overall award in the National Road Safety awards scheme in October 2013 in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
See also
References
{{reflist
Transport companies of Ghana
Transport companies established in 2003