Economist Dr. Jabir Mohammed has called for a structural overhaul of state-owned public transport operators, arguing that repeated government-led fleet expansions will fail to resolve chronic inefficiencies unless ownership and governance are fundamentally reformed.
His comments come after Vice President Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang met transport unions this week and pledged to expand their bus fleets to improve service delivery, following recent vehicular shortages in some parts of the country. While welcoming the intent, Dr. Mohammed said years of experience show that retooling alone has not delivered sustainable results.
He attributed the sector’s weak performance to excessive government control and opaque operations, noting that public confidence and efficiency tend to improve when citizens have a direct financial stake. “People tend to have confidence in something that they have shares in,” he said, arguing that partial privatisation would impose discipline on management.
Dr. Mohammed proposed merging key state transport operators, including Metro Mass Transit and Ayalolo, to pool resources, rationalise routes and achieve operational synergies. Once merged, he said the entity should be listed on the stock exchange, allowing government to offload part of its ownership to the public.
Under such a model, the company would be required to publish financial statements and operate under market scrutiny, improving transparency and accountability. Active shareholders, he argued, would be better positioned to challenge underperformance and influence governance through board representation.
He cited Metro Mass Transit’s declining fleet as evidence of systemic failure, recalling earlier claims that the operator could deploy up to 1,000 buses, compared with about 400 currently available, with only a fraction operational. “Why is it that you keep giving them the buses, and they keep failing?” he asked.
As a comparison, Dr. Mohammed pointed to GCB Bank, which he said performs relatively better because it is not wholly government-owned and is listed on the stock exchange, with ownership spread among the public.
Beyond governance, he said a market listing would provide a sustainable source of capital, reducing the need for repeated government bailouts. Profits could be distributed as dividends, offering investors liquidity and returns, while giving management a clear incentive to improve performance.
“If you know that every quarter there is profit distribution, won’t you do it? Obviously, you’re going to do it,” he said, adding that a dividend-paying public transport company could eventually outcompete purely private operators.
Dr. Mohammed warned, however, that ownership reform must be accompanied by stronger and clearer regulatory rules to prevent asset deterioration and operational abuse. Without that, he said, even private participation would struggle to deliver results.
His intervention adds a market-led dimension to the policy debate on public transport reform, as the government weighs how to restore efficiency to a sector that remains critical to urban productivity and economic activity.
