WINFRED AKAKPO TELLS US HIS EXPERIENCE AS THE TECHNICAL MANAGER OF THE TRICYCLES FLEET
Winfred Akakpo, the bike mechanic in charge of the maintenance and repairs of the fleet of tricycles for the Hohoe Trikademik Project shared his views and feelings about the project in a 30 minutes interview granted to Ernest, the project manager.
Here is what he observes, how the project influences his own business and how he sees the future of the project.
Ernest:
Are you happy to be working on the Trikademik project which started here in Hohoe in February?
Winfred:
Yes I am very happy and excited about the project. I actually consider myself a key stakeholder in the project. I honestly consider it as my own project and I am committed to invest my best efforts to ensure its success. The riders will tell you how I have been cautioning them to take care of “my trikes”. I refer to the trikes as my trikes simply because of my passion for the project.
Ernest:
Instinct invested in your workshop to enable you to provide the best maintenance level. What are your impressions about this workshop?
Winfred:
Our workshop is the only one of its kind, I believe in the whole of Ghana, and people have been coming to admire the set up including the tooling. That of course makes me feel good because I can take the credit for helping bring the project to Hohoe.
Ernest:
And what do you have to say about the technical training you were given by Anton, the Technical Director of Instinct?
Winfred:
Until that training with Anton, I of course used to pride myself in the fact that I have attended a number of technical trainings in bike mechanics, but this training taught me a number of new things which have helped to enrich my technical experience and that of my boys. I have now gained new knowledge in tricycle mechanics as well.
Ernest:
Are there any challenges that frustrate you?
Winfred:
There have been a few operational challenges, but I believe the future is bright and therefore not frustrated by the few initial challenges, especially the technical aspects. I also appreciate the fact that the project is in its very early stages and therefore I find it normal to be confronted with such difficulties. We made some technical adjustments with the help of Anton and the technical challenges are already much less.
Ernest:
What do you think about the quality of the trikes and the future of the project?
Winfred:
I am very confident about the quality of the tricycles and quite excited about the innovative design, but will love to see a significant increase in the fleet size, with some being sent to other needy communities around Hohoe that also have children walking long distances to school and back. This I believe will help ensure the sustainability of the project in Ghana, provided we succeed in getting more companies to sponsor, because the need will always be there in needy communities.
Interview by Ernest Teye-Topey
Trikademik Project Manager
