Traders rebuild demolished structures

Traders at Adehyeman Gardens near Kejetia in Kumasi have started rebuilding their wooden stalls and kiosks which were pulled down last Sunday. The traders are acting on the express instructions of the Metropolitan Chief Executive, (MCE) Kojo Bonsu, who has condemned the demolition exercise claiming his outfit was unaware.

The demolition was carried out by one Nana Osei Tutu, a private estate developer, who is claiming ownership to the land. Claiming to have a court order, the exercise was supervised by police and military personnel on the blind side of city authorities. The KMA Mayor who later visited the area after the angry and wailing traders besieged his residence, ordered the women to rebuild their stores until further notice.

“I don’t know who gave them the permission or what even influenced them to come in to demolish the place. Even if it was a court order, they should have sought clearance from me as a mayor to be able to come and do it” he fumed.

He described the exercise as an agenda pursued in disrespect of the authority of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.

“They are trying to defy my authority. As far as the Kumasi metropolitan assembly is aware, the traders have to be there. We will go through all the court processes. If you have a court warrant you have to seek the permission of the KMA to come and support you demolish it but you don’t have your own right and you can’t use your own power to come to demolish it. I am very angry about it, Mr. Bonsu burst out to the admiration of the traders.

The traders, whose hearts were immediately won over by the eloquent and charismatic fiery speech of the mayor, burst into appellation singing “mayor yen Nye wo den Ni wo ye bue”, which means they were short of words and actions of gratitude to the Mayor for what he had done.

According to the traders, although they were not notified of the demolition, they are aware of a pending court case between the KMA and the private developer over the ownership of the property. The traders, who were busily reconstructing their Monday morning, told Ultimate Radio the Assembly may have to assist them financially since their goods were destroyed through the demolition.

“We are reconstructing our stores this morning at our various allocated areas. The Mayor said he has not evicted us so we can continue to stay and work here. And because the demolishing took place at dawn, most of us lost our goods. We are about 600 and just one individual cannot destroy our work. There are parents amongst us and we pay schools fees so the KMA should do something to replenish what we have lost.

We have reported the case to police and we are waiting to see what they will do” a trader narrated to Ultimate Radio.

Another trader said “To me what happened here is not right, even if you have given a land to someone; you can’t just eject the person at dawn. Laws are not working in this country so people get up and do what they want” she fumed.

A male trader who deals in second hand clothing and footwear said “we don’t know what to do now so we need Government to come to our aid. We know that this is not our place so we are here temporarily. But we need the Government to speak for us. The Mayor came yesterday and told us he knew nothing about this and asked us to return until further notice”.

The KMA says it is investigating the matter to find a lasting solution to the impasse. Attempts by Ultimate Radio to seek police explanation for the demolition proved futile.