Traders Want Vanderpuije Out

A GROUP of traders in the Greater Accra region are calling for the head of Accra’s Metropolitan Chief Executive saying he has underperformed. The group which claims to belong to the Market Women Association of Ghana (MAWAG) has given Accra Mayor, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije a two week ultimatum to voluntarily resign for exhibiting a high level of incompetence in the execution of his duties. “The Mayor must quit his post and give way for a more productive and efficient person,” said Fredrick Opoku, Media Relations Officer of MAWAG at a press briefing in Accra. The group claimed that the AMA boss had failed and lost focus particularly with regards to his promise to rid the city of filth before assuming office. Citing the recent exercise undertaken by city authorities to clear some principal streets of hawkers, the group described the activity as “grossly inhuman” as it lead to the displacement of over 15,000 hawkers. They questioned why the Assembly chased the hawkers out of the streets without finding alternative business and market centers for them. Mr. Opoku noted that even though the AMA’s efforts to stop hawking in Accra were a good one, the exercise did not reduce the filth that had engulfed Accra but rather rendered over 15,000 hawkers jobless. “We would ensure that we move people to the streets for them to demonstrate against the Mayor. We are going to demonstrate till the Mayor steps aside because he is not credible and we cannot contain him any more,” he said. In reaction to the demands of the association, another group of traders have indicated that there is no association called MAWAG. Mercy Nee Djan, President of the Greater Accra Market Association, who discredited MAWAG told journalists, yesterday that “there is no group by that name in Accra,” adding that Opoku is trying to use the name and his followers to champion his own cause. According to Ms Djan, the only national market women’s association in the region is the Federation of Market Women Association. She noted that though people have the right to form their own associations and “demonstrate against anything, the various market groups and we will not allow any person to use the name of market women for their personal agenda.” Surrounded by hundreds of market women, the angry president said “yes, it is true that Fredrick Opoku might be fighting a good cause but he does not have the right to use market women who do not have any idea about what he is doing.” The incident of a hawkers having his ear chopped off as reported by the media, has not been treated fairly she said adding that they are expecting the AMA to take appropriate measures to address the situation. However “this does not mean that some few individuals could just use the name of market women to fight an unjust cause. We will not allow that,” she cautioned. She stated that the leadership of the market traders association in the region are working hard to ensure that all hawkers are integrated into market centers so that those who do not have space to carry out their trading activities are accommodated in markets where there are empty spaces.

Source: Daily Guide