Story By: Philip Antoh
Barely a week after the Greater Accra Regional Minster and the Regional Coordinating Council launched ‘Operation Clean your Frontage,’ where some structures belonging to petty traders selling along the streets and pavements of Accra were destroyed and sacked, those at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle are back to the streets.
The event, which attracted global attention and applause by some health experts in the country as one of the massive initiatives to make Accra and for that matter Ghana the cleanest city in Africa, has, sadly been challenged.
As at Tuesday, February 8, 2022, traders sacked from selling along the pavements at the Central Ayawas (in front of Tip-Toe Lane) and Okaikwei South (Vodafone Lane) parts of Kwame Nkrumah Circle on February 1, 2022 were back to the streets as usual as if nothing had happened.
Traders ignore regional minister, back to sell on street at Nkrumah Circle
Observations made at these centres revealed that there was no taskforce or the presence of the security to deter the traders from reoccupying the pavements as promised by the minister.
It would be recalled that the Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, said the initiative will bring employment to over 3,500 people who are mainly recruited taskforce to help ensure enforcement.
These traders, who are mainly selling used-second-hand mobile phones and phone accessories, have flooded the pavements with their products to the extent that movement becomes very difficult in the area.
But ironically, traders at the Korle Klottey part of Nkrumah Circle (Opra Sport and in front of Ghana Commercial Bank Lane through to VIP Bus Terminal) were seen obeying the directives as the pavement were empty and allowed free flow of human traffic.
Traders ignore regional minister, back to sell on street at Nkrumah Circle
A senior officer at the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly, who only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity after the paper met the absence of the Municipal Chief Executive, said the assembly has had intense discussions with the petty traders and made them understand that they play an important role in making Accra the cleanest city.
He said the assembly has promised to reconstruct the burnt Pedestrian Shopping Mall at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to accommodate them and are also looking for other market avenues to relocate the displaced ones.
A trader, who sells men shoes at the Korle Klottey part of Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Mr Kwame Peprah, accused the Greater Accra Regional Minister for allowing traders from his constituency to be back on the streets while those at the other side are being chased out of the pavement on daily basis.
Mr. Peprah said “I thought they sacked us all from the streets why is it that those around Tip Toe Lane, in front of Vodafone and those around the VVIP Bus Terminal are back selling on the street and nobody is sacking them? We give ourselves up to the end of this week and if they still selling there then we will join them on the streets too.”
He said there were free movement in terms of human traffic for the past six days at Nkrumah Circle when the traders were sacked from selling on the streets.
“The activities of the traders at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, if not immediately checked, will defeat the purpose of the ‘Operation Clean Your Frontage,’ campaign,” Mr. Peprah stated.
Some security men, who spoke to the paper, expressed their disappointment after they were paraded in the hot sun to chase out traders and within just a week the traders are back to flood the streets.
All attempts to speak with Mr. Quartey proved futile as calls to his cell phone went unanswered.
Source: www.thenewindependentonline.com
