The Horse Racing Association of Ghana has staged a protest at the site of the demolished Accra Race Course at Borteyman, demanding government action over the impact of the demolition on their livelihoods.

The Race Course was demolished on August 22 in an exercise that the Association says involved about 200 armed men, nine bulldozers and an excavator.

The facility was subsequently sealed off, preventing the Club, workers and the public from accessing the site.

The Association says jockeys, trainers, grooms, stable hands, veterinarians and feed merchants have been left without income since the demolition.

In a statement after the protest, the Association said, “Many are homeless, having lost their on-site residences with no warning.”

It added that “incomes have stopped” because “there are no races, no training and no stable work,” leaving families struggling to provide food, pay rent and meet school expenses.

“We are hardworking Ghanaians who woke up one Saturday with a home, a job and dignity, and by nightfall had nothing,” the Association said.

The group also expressed concern about displaced horses, saying some animals are “at risk of death.”

The Association acknowledged reported police action following the demolition but said more needed to be done to address the hardship facing affected workers.

“Arrests and interdictions do not put a roof over a jockey’s head or food on a family’s table,” it said.

The Association is calling for the racecourse to be secured and access restored to allow horse racing and the jobs linked to the facility to resume.