Some traders in Accra's Central Business District are calling the bluff of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly over its plan to permanently evict them from the pavements.

The AMA has warned that from Monday, January 8, 2018, a task force made up police and personnel from the Assembly will forcefully evict hawkers and traders who have encroached on pavements, footbridges along all ceremonial routes.  

The Assembly has warned traders who fail to move by Monday, January 8, would have themselves to blame.

The AMA believes, the decongestion exercise will assist it in its quest to keep the city clean and decongested.

Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has said the decongestion exercise is a city-wide exercise that will be sustained.

“We are encouraging all the hawkers and the petty traders to move back inside the markets. We want to fashion out a strategy to be able to sustain it,” he said.

Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah

Also, a press release from the AMA announcing the decongestion exercise indicated that enough notice has been given to those who will be affected.

The hawkers have however, described the upcoming exercise as a nine-day wonder which will fizzle out, just like similar evictions embarked on in the past.

“…the truth is that even when we are evicted, we will come back”, one of them told Joy News’ Emefa Dzradosi.

Some of the traders have also lamented that they do not understand why the AMA will want to evict them permanently because according to them, they have adhered to the ‘operation don’t cross the red line’ which was launched in 2015 as part of plans to decongest the city.

Come Monday we will remain here, they maintained.

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