One For The Accra Mayor

Mohammed Adjei Sowah, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has earned the respect and admiration of city dwellers as well as persons who have visited the city’s Central Business District (CBD) in recent times.

Accra’s CBD has been purged of the thousands of hawkers that had illegally taken over the city’s walk ways as well as the main roads. Hitherto, these hawkers posed a great nuisance to pedestrians and motorists alike.

Hawkers that had decided to abandon the demarcated market centers and trading areas. The abnormal situation had gone on for a very long time to an extent it had become almost accepted to be part of the city’s outlook.

It was simply an unpleasant sight to behold.

The situation was chaotic to an extent that hawkers actually had more right on the walk ways than pedestrians. They had actually set up structures to showcase their wares right on the walk ways, leaving a rather narrow strip for pedestrians to squeeze themselves through.

On the streets of Accra, one could buy all the ingredients for cooking a complete meal, buy a gas stove, set up a small kitchen and actually prepare a full course meal right on the streets.

It was a sad situation that did not make the city look good.

These hawkers, have argued that they are selling on the streets for survival and that kicking them out would deprive them of their daily bread. Sadly, a section of our society has bought into that argument.

It is a flawed argument. No one should be allowed to break our laws and by-laws under the cloak of economic survival.

The streets of Accra’s Central Business Districts cannot and should not be an extension or an annex of the city’s market centers and THE PUBLISHER is super excited that the Lord Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has gathered the courage to clear them off the streets.

We congratulate Mohammed Adjei Sowah and encourage him to be steadfast in maintaining law and order in Accra without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

Mohammed Adjei Sowah has done very well with this bold decision and we need to highly commend him while reminding him that Accra still has major challenges to tackle.

The city stinks. The city is dirty. The residents are still not having the proper orientation on issues of hygiene. Many homes still lack toilet facilities. Many residents still ease themselves along the beaches. Many still dump refuse in open drains.

We need to be united behind our leaders in tackling these challenges.

It is the hope and prayer of THE PUBLISHER that Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the Lord Mayor of Accra, would have the political will power, requisite resources and support of all stakeholders to tackle these challenges just as he has gotten rid of the hawkers that had hitherto turned our streets into market squares.