Speaking to Citi News, the traders say the government must build new markets or expand existing ones, to prevent them from plying their trade on pavements.

“We have nowhere to go. The markets are chocked, and there’s no place to trade. We took loans to engage in this trade, so they should allow us to sell here.”

“Even when soldiers come, they can only kill us because we have no option,” one of the traders said.

The government announced plans to embark on a massive decongesting of principal streets in Accra from February 1, 2022.

According to the government, the grace period offered traders to undertake their businesses along the streets in the capital as a result of the festive season has elapsed, hence the need for them to return to their respective markets.

In an interaction with various trader unions in Accra ahead of the rollout of the Operation Clean Your Frontage program, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, also cautioned transport operators who park indiscriminately on the streets and persons who ply their trade along the streets to refrain from such acts.