Leadership of the onion traders at Kwadaso who were relocated to Atwima Takyiman have indicated their unwillingness to occupy the new market.
Their reason is that the new place is not big enough to contain them. They also fear being evicted again after few years. They will rather find a land to buy and restart their trading activities devoid of any possible ejection.
Less than 24 hours after demolishing the Kwadaso onion market, the place has been cordoned to prevent people from accessing the area.
All affected traders were to move and start their business activities at the new market in Atwima Takyiman in earnest. But none of them had reported to the new place when we visited on Tuesday.
Whilst some of them took to the streets and unauthorized places to ply their trade, others were waiting for directives from their leadership on what to do.
“That place can’t contain us all. So, we do not want to go there and create any confusion or inconvenience. We were working on 16 plots but have been relocated to 8 plots. So, we are waiting for what next our leaders will tell us to do”, a trader, Abdullah Issah stressed.
The onion traders were relocated to racecourse market from Alabar before being moved again to Kwadaso in 2011. Now, they’ve been asked to relocate to Atwima Takyiman.
Amidst fear of facing a similar eviction in the next few years, the traders are pushing for a spacious land they can own and trade on without concerns over future ejection.
“We don’t want to be relocated to where we will still be asked to leave after some years.
“We were told this place (Kwadaso) was a market land and we won’t be evicted and now they’re telling us to leave. So, we want to get our own land and do our business on it. That way we will be safe”, a trader, Mohammed Jibril indicated.
The leadership appears reluctant in asking their members to occupy the new market.
“We are looking at securing a place of our own. We don’t want to go to anyplace we don’t have control over the land”, Secretary to the onion traders, Umar Abdulai said.
The Kwadaso Municipal Assembly, however, assured the traders that, the new market is a permanent place for them.
Again, the Assembly indicated that efforts are underway to get additional space close to the area to accommodate those who may not find space in the new market.