The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has dismissed social media reports claiming that an Aayalolo bus was involved in an accident, insisting that no bus from the transport service was involved.
He explained that the buses had only diverted from their route to avoid an accident involving another vehicle before continuing their journey.
“No Aayalolo bus has been involved in any accident,” he insisted.
Mr Ayariga said the misleading reports originated from a video of the incident which was accompanied by a false voice-over suggesting that an Aayalolo bus had crashed.
“Somebody captured the accident and then put a voice on it, lying that the Aayalolo buses were involved in an accident,” he stated.
He warned that such misinformation could create unnecessary fear among commuters and undermine public confidence in the transport service.
He questioned why anyone would deliberately circulate false information suggesting that an Aayalolo bus had crashed when no such incident had occurred.
“Why would you try to create fear and panic among the travelling public that an Aayalolo bus got involved in an accident, so that people would be afraid of taking Aayalolo buses when it is not true that they were involved in any accident?” he asked.
The Minister said authorities had the technological capacity to identify the person behind the video but noted that any attempt to sanction the individual could attract political interpretations.
“The technology exists for us to locate that person. And you see, when you locate that person, and you are punishing that person for trying to cause fear and panic, then people start reading all sorts of political meanings into it,” he said.
Mr Ayariga was speaking on Thursday, November 5, during the presentation of four dispatch motorcycles to the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to support Aayalolo’s contraflow operations.