The Minister of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, has called for traders selling on pavements in the capital to be cleared immediately.
He ordered the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to remove the traders from hawking on pavements to enable the free movement of pedestrians on the walkways.
In his bid to ensure order and safety in Accra’s busy streets, the minister appealed to the local assemblies to enforce bylaws to prevent traders from selling at unauthorized places.
He added that the congestion problem in most of the city’s streets and markets is caused by the activities of these traders.
“Most nights, between midnight and 3am, I drive around town to understand the problems and I realize that most of the issues of congestion during the day are caused by recalcitrant traders obstructing movement with their merchandize on the streets and pavements,” he said.
The Minister made this call during a tour of the Odawna and Mallam markets in Accra to inspect progress on ongoing rehabilitation projects in the markets.
He expressed the importance of the two projects in easing human traffic at the markets, however, according to him, the local assemblies would keep the roads clear for their intended use rather than extension of market spaces.
But that seems like an impossible task for the local assemblies who have failed continuously in enforcing such orders.
In 2022, The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey vowed to ensure that the streets of Accra are decongested for a cleaner society by clearing motorists and traders along the streets and pavements of the city.
The discipline he hoped to instill with his promise of personally supervising the decongestion exercise seems to have failed.
