Ten people were yesterday, Thursday, December 10, 2009 brutally clubbed by some unidentified thugs at Ashaiman over the allocation of market space to hundreds of disgruntled traders.
This morning, the authorities are going to use armed soldiers to ward off hawkers from the turf over which the local assembly is fighting against the sellers, the papers can further say. And indications are that the blood-bath likely to ensue could reduce the 10 casualties into child�s play.
The injured, who are currently receiving treatment at the Tema General Hospital, in the early hours of yesterday morning, had thronged the premises of the Municipal Assembly to protest against what they described as �political interference� in the allocation of spaces for them at the �Kufuor Bus Terminal.�
The municipal chief executive, Adinortey Addison Numo, is said to have �vamoosed� from his office for fear of being beaten up by the angry traders who stormed there to register their displeasure over the allocation of the market space to them. The police are currently embarking on a man-hunt to arrest the over 20 thugs who brutally engaged the red-eyed traders in fisticuffs, resulting in bloody injuries to several people.
The Chairman of the Peace Traders Association, James Mensah is also said to be on the wanted list of the Ashaiman police to help in investigations. The genesis of the clash is the recent de-congestion exercises carried out by the assembly that barred over 1,300 traders from selling at the central business district.
The assembly last Saturday carried out one of the de-congestion exercises based on a challenge thrown at it by the main market queen, Korkor Agogo, to relocate the traders or the market women would not pay tools to the assembly.
A memorandum of understating sighted by newsmen revealed that the traders who were in support of the decongestion exercise impressed upon the assembly to provide them with a facility with basic infrastructure since they also pay tax to the outfit.
The assembly agreed to the demands of the traders to relocate them to the Kufuor Bus Terminal, an open space being used as a market square.
Contrary to the agree terms, however, the allocation of the market space according to the traders had been bedeviled with polecat interference. They alleged that some political bigwigs have invaded the venue to influence the distribution of the market spaces and �if you don�t know anybody at the assembly or you are not affiliated to a particular party, you won�t get any place to sell.�
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