Trotro business: husband and wife working together to earn a living

A lot of things comes to play when considering to start and grow a business together. This however becomes a daunting task for many because, there would be incident of trust, transparency and accountability.

This might not have been the case of a Ghanaian couple who decided to go into business together.

55-year-old Edward Armah Ago and his wife Evelyn Adjeley Adjei, 42, have been working together as a couple in the popular 'trotro' business for over five years, according to The Mirror reports.

Armah and Adjeley Source: Graphic.com.gh

Armah and Adjeley working together as a driver and bus conductor (mate) respectively, plying their trotro business between La Tse Addo and Kwame Nkrumah Circle, have strengthened their commitment to each other and deepened their relationship.

According to Armah who has been in the trotro business for about 30 years, he decided to do this business with his wife because, he realized his mates made more money at the end of each trip as they didn’t account properly for the monies collected from passengers.

“We usually load from station to station but most of the times, people alighted before we reached the station and though the mates pick new passengers to fill the empty seats, they never accounted properly for it," Armah recounted.

Armah and Adjeley Source: Graphic.com.gh

He explained further that, when he finally bought the benz bus with support from family and local drivers union, he decided to ply the trade with his wife because he believed she would not cheat him.

Confirming the earlier claims by her husband, Adjeley said within a short period, they realized working together in the trotro business was more rewarding than when they both were into producing local gin, commonly known as ‘Akpeteshi’.

She said people always stared when they saw her “shadowing” (a term used by mates to describe how passengers are invited to board a vehicle) but she was not bothered as that was how she and her husband made money to cater for themselves and their five children.

“We are able to cater for the education of our five children and take care of ourselves and a few other dependents through this business.

Currently we work six days in a week and rest only on Sundays so we are able to save more,” Adjeley stated.

The couple, who have been married for 15 years, told the Mirror they were optimistic that they would be able to save more money to buy a better vehicle and hopefully, start a ‘work and pay’ business for other dedicated drivers.