Osu traders ejected

Traders at Danquah circle in Osu have been ejected and their kiosk and other structures demolished on Monday, July 25 2011. The area which is just behind the wall of Koala shopping mall at Dankwah in Osu along the Makumba service lane has been in court for some time until the demolishing exercise.

Most of the traders who were absent when the demolishing exercise happened were scurrying through what was left of their structures to retrieve wares underneath the wreckage when Xfm 95.1 visited the scene.

The demolishing exercise is said to have taken place around 5am Monday morning when most of the traders were not present. According to the traders, AMA personnel accompanied by some police personnel stormed the area at dawn, demolished the structures and carried the wares of the traders to the AMA office in Accra.

Speaking to Xfm 95.1, some of the affected traders said they were not notified by the Œsupposed¹ owner of the land (Koala) about the eviction or demolishing exercise and as such they were surprised to find their structures demolished.

A trader said when she went over to the office of the AMA to collect her wares, she was asked to pay some amount of money before her wares were released while another said she could not find her wares at the AMA office.

The Assembly man of the area, Honourable Ben Nii Quaye said his attention was drawn to the incident on his way to the office this morning and as such he was in the dark about the whole exercise.

He explained that a previous issue which involved Koala and traders of the area some time back was resolved after those constructing a fence around the said area were asked to produce their building permit; a request they could not fulfill adding that all efforts to contact the Sub ­ Metro director of the AMA on the issue has proved futile.

Honourable Nii Quaye opined that the area in question is a ³service lane² and wondered why anyone would claim ownership of that particular area. In a related issue, the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Numo Blafo has said that the eviction of traders from the Makumba service lane in Osu is not an exercise being undertaken by the AMA.

In an interview with Xfm 95.1, Numo Blafo explained that the issue of the area is a court related one adding that the eviction and demolishing exercise which took place this morning was as a result of a court order and not an exercise being undertaken by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

Story by Vincent Baffour Acheampong/ Xfm 95.1/ Accra/ Ghana