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Event Details |
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1stZonal Vanguard Best Taxi Drivers Awards and Commissioning of a 100 New TaTa Indigo Taxi Cabs
WELCOME ADDRESS BY CEO OF VANGUARD ASSURANCE MR MAHAMA EMMANUEL BABA AT THE 1ST ZONAL VANGUARD BEST TAXI DRIVER AWARDS AND THE COMMISSIONING OF 100 NEW TATA INDIGO TAXI CABS.
Mr. Chairman,
Our Honourable Guest of Honour,
The Executive Vice Chairman of Vanguard Assurance
Our Distinguished Guest, Mr. Kwabena Pepera, a renowned industrialist and Chairman of PHC Motors,
The Managing Directors of Ecobank and PHC Motors
The MTTU Commander
National & Regional Executives of Transport Organisations
Executives of Taxi Unions and Societies within the Greater Accra Region
Our friends from the Press
Ladies & Gentlemen
I deem it a great honour to welcome you all to today’s function – the twin events of the 1st Zonal Vanguard Best Taxi Driver Awards and the Commissioning of the 100 new Tata Indigo Taxi Cabs which Vanguard has assisted taxi drivers to acquire through a leasing arrangement from Ecobank.
Since 2003 when our Board of Directors took the decision to institute the Taxi Project, a lot has happened and today marks a major milestone in the life of the Project and Vanguard’s relationship with taxi drivers, taxi unions and indeed taxi owners throughout Ghana. It has been a very fruitful relationship so far and we appreciate the fact that without the support and active participation of Taxi Drivers, Taxi Unions and Taxi owners for the Vanguard Project, we will not have come this far. I also want to recognise the contribution of governmental agencies such as DVLA, MTTU, National Road Safety Commission, and Ghana Tourist Board. Through our collective efforts, I can confidently say that the Vanguard Taxi Project is the most unique intervention by an insurance company to create and maintain a significantly close relationship with a key segment of its market and help develop it for the benefit of the country as a whole. This is a social responsibility project we are very much committed to as a company because we believe it holds tremendous benefits for all of us.
At this juncture Mr. Chairman, Our Special Guest of Honour, Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentlemen, I want to refresh our memories on the key objectives of the Project.
These are:
1. To complement the efforts of agencies involved in road safety
2. To contribute to the development of Tourism in Ghana
3. To contribute towards uplifting the image of the taxi driving profession in Ghana
To achieve these objectives, we have five key components of the Project:
The annual Vanguard Best Taxi Driver Awards
The annual Training of Trainers Programme for Taxi Unions/Drivers
The Group Taxi Insurance Scheme
Drivers’ Life Assurance/Welfare Scheme
Vanguard’s support for taxi drivers to acquire taxi cabs
In 2004 when we had the first Vanguard Best Taxi Driver Awards at this same venue, only 23 taxi unions and societies participated in that pilot awards ceremony. We projected that by 2007, we would have extended the awards to all the 10 regions and also have the first National Awards and put up a brand new taxi cab for the ultimate winner. Due to certain operational difficulties we have been able to effectively cover only five regions – Greater Accra, Western, Ashanti, Eastern, and Brong Ahafo. We also have extended the Project to the Northern and Central Regions and recently to Aflao in the Volta Region. Since inception in 2004, we have had regional awards in Greater Accra (3 times), twice in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions. This is the first time we are bringing together winners and first runners up in their respective regions to compete among themselves to determine who is the best taxi driver in the five (5) participating regions. I have been informed about how keen the competition was among the 10 contestants. Next year we will zone the country into two – the Northern Zone and the Southern Zone. The Northern Zone will include Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and the three(3) Northern Regions. The Southern Zone will cover Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Western and the Volta Regions. Each of these zones will compete for one brand new taxi cab. This is to make for effective participation in the awards and make future awards more competitive and all-inclusive.
Apart from the grand prize which is the brand new taxi cab, we also have over 250 consolation prizes – double door refrigerators, table top refrigerators, 20’ colour Television sets and standing fans. Every driver who represented his or her union as the best driver will go home with one consolation prize or another.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests, ladies and Gentlemen
For us at Vanguard today is a very important day in our corporate calendar, a day set aside to recognise and reward hardwork, discipline and all the virtues that we all cherish and wish to see in our commercial drivers. We feel most honoured to have all of you here this morning to join us recognise deserving taxi drivers in five(5) regions of Ghana - Greater Accra, Western, Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Region.
Amongst us today are also the Chairmen of various taxi unions from the five regions mentioned whose unions have been adjudged the best unions in their respective regions.
The question we have been asked over and over again is why are doing all these for Taxi drivers?
Taxi drivers, we sincerely believe constitute an indispensable group in our transport service delivery. Apart from taking us to and from work, many of us use their services in several other respects. Tourists and other foreign visitors to this country rely very much on taxi drivers to carry them around. To such visitors, taxi drivers mirror the image of this country. We sincerely believe that taxi drivers also deserve such recognition as accorded other professions like teaching, farming, nursing etc which all have award schemes to give recognition to deserving members.
It is therefore appropriate that in this golden jubilee year, we have chosen as the theme for this 1st Zonal awards “Ghana@50: the Contribution of the Taxi Driver, Taxi Union and the Taxi Owner.” The taxi industry has no doubt contributed its fair share in bringing our nation this far and it is just fine that while singing the praises of other sectors of the economy, we give the taxi industry and its key practitioners their due.
Distinguished Chairman, we are very much encouraged by the interest the awards and our training of trainers workshops continue to generate among taxi unions and taxi drivers throughout the country. The participation that we saw in the just ended workshop and also at today’s ceremony attest to this fact. I want to take this opportunity to commend the taxi drivers and executives of all taxi unions all over the country for sharing so effectively in our vision.
This is a project to transform the taxi industry in Ghana and to give the taxi driving profession a new image. We will continue to count on your support. It is our hope that the enthusiasm you have shown so far will grow even bigger so that together with your colleagues all over the country, we can make this Project an enduring success.
We are sincerely very grateful to members of the various regional Awards Committees and our special gratitude to the Greater Accra Regional Awards Committee which also doubled as the Zonal Awards Committee. You have all done a yeoman’s job. You have performed a national duty excellently, with so much professionalism and enthusiasm. We hope we can continue to count on your support.
At this juncture, Mr. Chairman, I wish to pay a special tribute to memory of Mr. Kojo Moses whose untimely death came to us yesterday. Mr. Kojo Moses had been the Chairman of the Greater Accra Best Driver Selection Committee since the inception of the awards in 2004. He was again invited this year to chair the Greater Accra Regional Selection Committee and the Zonal Committee but he wrote to us to be excused due to ill-health. When the history of the Vanguard Taxi Project is written, the role of Mr. Kojo Moses will be inscribed in gold not only because of his pioneering role as chairman of the Greater Accra Regional Best Driver selection committee, we have benefited tremendously from his advice on how to improve upon Taxi Project as a whole and to make the project an enduring success. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
To the 10 contestants who represented their various regions and to all taxi drivers who represented their various unions in their respective regions as best drivers and to the eventual winner and runners up, I say congratulations. Taxi drivers, Taxi Unions and Taxi Union executives in the five(5) participating regions and indeed throughout the whole country will continue to occupy a special place in the minds of the management and staff of Vanguard Assurance Company.
To all other stakeholders in the transport industry, who responded to our invitation to participate in both the just ended two-day training of Trainers workshop and today’s ceremony, we are grateful for your presence and wish to inform you that we will welcome your contribution and partnership to enhance the quality and sustainability of all aspects of our Taxi Project.
Thank you. |
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