Traders at Atimpoku, Kpong endanger their lives competing with speeding vehicles

• Traders at Kpong and Atimpoku compete with speeding vehicles as they ply their trade

• Sometimes they are knocked down and ran over by careless drivers

• Aside from enduring careless drivers, some passengers also do not pay for items bought in traffic as cars move

It’s a common sight at Kpong and Atimpoku in the Eastern Region as traders along the main Tema-Akosombo highway compete with speeding vehicles in their attempt to make ends meet.

The traders who are bent on selling abolo, fried yam, bread, fried fish, sachet water, etc. to drivers and passengers aboard these vehicles throw caution to the wind as they are only bent on chasing after the vehicles for their survival.

Though the traders admit being occasionally knocked down and ran over by careless drivers, GhanaWeb as part of its road safety campaign visited the scene to observe the situation and also spoke with some traders at Kpong and Atimpoku.

GhanaWeb’s Michael Oberteye spoke to 28-year-old Okaibea Naomi who has been selling fried turkey tail (tsofi) at Atimpoku for the past two years.

She denied that they were endangering their lives by running alongside speeding vehicles and said they had no option but to do this in order to survive.

“No,” was her reply as to whether they were not endangering their lives running after vehicles. “That is what we do to get our daily bread. We’ve not gone to school, our parents do not have money to send us to school so some of here are school dropouts, some of us are educated and we don’t have anybody to help us complete our education so this is what we do for a living.”

She however appealed for sheds to be built by the roadside for the traders so they can safely ply their trade under, streetlights and also a place of convenience for the traders and passengers.

48-year-old Salomey Gamor is however dependent on God and the understanding of the drivers for their safety.

She however added that they exercise caution in their encounter with the vehicles to stay safe.

“God protects us in this business. The drivers also understand that this is what we depend on so we’re safe here…We protect ourselves from the vehicles. We don’t cross the cars, we need to protect ourselves to avoid accidents,” she said.

Madam Gamor however appealed to the government to come on board and offer some financial assistance to the traders.

“Our major concern however is that we need help, the job requires money. At 48-years, I’m still running after vehicles so I need money to do a different business,” she appealed.

Abiba also sells one-man thousand. According to her, passengers ran away with their monies as drivers refused to stop, adding that they sometimes got knocked down in the process.

“We ran after the vehicles. Sometimes, they stop, other times too they don’t. Sometimes, they run away with our monies, other times too if we are not careful, they knock us down. We fear being run over but we don’t have any other work.

“We are pleading with government to come and provide us with alternative sources of employment that will benefit us in the future.”

30-year-old Joyce Nartey who has been selling for the past three years also said, “Cars knock us down here all the time, they also run away with our money.

Some of the drivers refuse to stop for passengers to buy. We plead with them but they don’t stop and the passengers leave with our money. Sometimes, you chase after them to take your money and get knocked down in the process.”

She lamented about the rising cost of products and called on government to fix the situation.