Residents, traders, and wood sellers at Akwatialine in the Ashanti Region are accusing security officials of subjecting them to severe maltreatment in their bid to evict them from trading in the area.
Scores of traders who have been operating at the wood market enclave at Akwatialine for years have been asked to leave the area to allow for redevelopment.
The Akwatialine Wood Sellers Association and other traders have described the move by authorities to evict them as unfair since they have not been given places to relocate to.
A visit to the area on Friday morning, April 14, revealed a heavy security presence as some persons in the area accused the police of assaulting them, which led to some people sustaining injuries.
The Secretary of the Akwatialine Wood Sellers Association, Mohammed Umar told Citi News, “They told me that anti-robbers and police beat them, and they later arrested some of them as well. You can’t just evict us without providing us with a new place. We will not resist if the government gives us a good place to trade”.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Asokore Mampong, Kennedy Kankam, however, allayed the fears of the wood sellers and other traders, insisting that the people were not necessarily being evicted from the area.
He says the redevelopment is being done in phases, and no trader would be asked to move away but would still be allowed to operate within the area while construction works are going on in other parts of the area.
He says he is so far not aware of the alleged assault on some persons, which he described as unfortunate.
“They are just misunderstanding me, we are not evicting anybody, we are just rearranging the place so that we will start the project, and we will be shifting them through phases. We don’t want to finish the market, and it will turn into a white elephant. Let’s all abide by the rules and regulations. I will not allow anyone to move to a place where they cannot continue with their business”.
