Street Vendors Protest

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Wednesday, 01 November 2006 (Page 3)

THE Ghana Street Vendors Association has accused some officials of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) of illegally registering people for allocation of stalls at the Pedestrian Shopping Mall (hawkers market) at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

The association, which is made up of some street hawkers in Accra, warned that if the practice was not checked by the AMA, it could undermine the registration process.

"If care is not taken, the purpose for which the market was built would not be achieved," they said.

Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the secretary of the association, Tony Eshun, expressed dissatisfaction about the process of registration for the allocation of stalls by the AMA.

He said after submitting their completed registration forms with two passport pictures to the AMA, all traders are now being asked to come to the AMA head office and pay ¢200,000 for the registration of the stalls.

He, therefore, appealed to the AMA to explain to the traders what happened to the registration forms that the association submitted to the AMA.

He explained that following a request by the AMA on March 5, 2005, the association registered its members, issued them with membership cards and submitted the names of 600 members who filled the forms to the AMA.

"But our people now fear that they would not be considered in the allocation of stalls, at the market because of the way the registration process is being handled by the AMA," Mr Eshun said.