The exercise which took place on Monday saw the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Albert Boakye Okyere joining his officials and ASHMA City Guards to sack the traders from the roads and arrest those who had violated the law.

“We cannot condone lawlessness anymore, move your wares from the road,” Mr. Okyere ordered whilst his men sacked the traders and dragged their wares from the streets. Speaking to the press, the MCE observed the need to open up the main Ashaiman market road which ran through the Municipality and which for years had been taken over by traders.

He refuted the claim by some traders that they were not informed prior to the exercise saying “before this exercise, we made our van to go round for five consecutive days giving announcements to that effect and after the announcements, there was a mini-durbar in the area to interact with the traders so they would know why they had to vacate the road.”

He observed the health implications to the traders by selling so close to drains adding that “the gutters that are covered and used as trading ground is not good because it poses a lot of health challenges for the people.”  According to him, there were places earmarked for trading, but the traders preferred using the road because they felt customers would buy from them when they were on the road.

He added that, “If you go to the VALCO Flats, there are stalls which are virtually empty. Even when you enter the main market, some of them have left their stalls and have come onto the road because they feel those by the road side have taken over the business.”

“I promise you that what I cannot do I don’t start. It has taken me a long time, but with proper planning I would be able to control the situation,” he pledged. Mr. Frank Samanti, a driver, was happy with the exercise and told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that with the traders on the road, it was difficult for drivers to have easy passage through that stretch of road, and therefore prayed the Assembly to sustain the campaign.

However, Mrs. Rose Teye, a trader, said even though she supported what the Assembly was doing, she thought the time given to them was not enough to have allowed them prepare adequately for the exercise.