Traders, commercial drivers, and truck drivers have expressed worry over their ejection from the Agbogbloshie Market by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to make way for the construction of hostels and toilets for head porters (Kayayie) in Accra.
Traders and drivers numbering over three thousand who ply their trade at the Western regional market and lorry station at the Agbogbloshie Market in Accra have said they are on verge of losing their sources of livelihood because the market is being fragmented.
Construction has commenced on the site earmarked for the construction of new structures.
Some of the traders and drivers said they have operated on that parcel of land for over 40 years now, only for them to see their properties destroyed last Monday to make way for the construction project. Five vehicles that were stationed on the land at the time of the operation were towed to the office of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
The drivers say they had to pay Five thousand Ghana cedis (GHc5,000) each before their vehicles were released to them. They had no option but to call on two of their Members of Parliament (MP), Dorcas Afo Toffey for Jomoro and Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah for Elembelle for assistance.
In a meeting with the traders and drivers in Accra, Dorcas Afo Toffey, MP for Jomoro explained that when she had the call on their ejection without notification, she called the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey who denied knowledge of the ejection.
She said the Minister told her the place does not fall under his jurisdiction, but rather the Mayor of Accra, Elizabeth Sackey. She assured them of relocation even if the land is taken from them.
“What the government wants to do by building a hostel and toilet on the land is not a bad idea, but not given prior notice and no relocation plan for the drivers and traders is the challenge,” Madam Afo Toffey said in Twi.
She noted the exercise will affect the over 2,000 women who trade there.
“If the government is doing such things for the Kayayei, then traders and drivers also need a befitting place to do their business and not to push them away,” she said.
She promised to meet the Mayor of Accra for an amicable resolution of the issue.
