Hawkers play hide and seek with police

Posted:The Chronicle / Monday, July 06, 2009



By Charles Takyi Boadu
Displaced hawkers at the Accra Central Business district, who were affected by the recent decongestion exercise embarked upon by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), appear to be defiant of the city authority’s directive to leave the streets and pavements of Accra for the Pedestrian Shopping Mall.

Most of these displaced hawkers are still lurking in front of stores, biding their time to return to the streets and pavements when the security personnel policing the area finally leave.

When The Chronicle went round the principal streets and pavements of the Central Business district of Accra, and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, where most of these people were affected last week Thursday, it realised that most of the hawkers were playing what could best be described as ‘hide-and-seek’ with the law enforcement agencies.

At the Rawlings Park in Accra, some of the displaced hawkers were seen hovering around the pavements, whilst others lurked in front of shops in readiness to go back to the streets when the security details leave.

The situation at the Kwame Nkrumah circle was a different ball game from what was discovered in the Accra Business district.

Here, most of these hawkers were seen doing brisk business on the pavements, since there were no security personnel to sack them.

Asked why they were still loitering on the pavements, and not going to occupy the much-talked-about Pedestrian Shopping Mall, part of which was still empty, most of these hawkers said for one reason or the other, people (buyers) do not take delight in coming to buy at the market.

Others also said they were harassed and driven away whenever they go to some other markets to trade their wares. This, according to them, was because they do not have regular places there, and therefore end up blocking people’s displayed wares.

Meanwhile, some of the affected hawkers said they had contracted loans from the various banks, ranging between GH¢500 – GH¢ 5,000, and do not know where to get those monies to go and service the loans.

The hawkers did not also understand why the shopping mall at circle was built in two sections, with a lorry station in the middle.

According to them, one could get everything he or she wants to buy at the first section of the market, and would therefore not go to the second section, popularly known as ‘Tuobodom’.

For this reason, they said they had nowhere to go unless the AMA gives them a better alternative.

Ahwoi Weeps for Selormey, Peprah Others

Posted: The Chronicle wednesday, July 1, 2009.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Food and Agriculture Minister, Kwesi Ahwoi, yesterday showed how emotionally attached he was to the much talked-about Aveyime rice project, which is situated in the Volta region.
This was when he was responding to queries from The Chronicle about the current state of affairs of the project when his Ministry took its turn at the meet-the-press series in Accra, yesterday.
"It is too emotional for me; I don't normally want to talk, I just want to see and work at getting that project deliver for the sake of my brothers whose lives have been messed up because they have been to jail not on account of corruption, but administrative mishap perpetrated by the Manager of the project at that time", he said.
For the fate that he and his other colleague Ministers were made to suffer, Mr. Ahwoi has committed himself to make the project one of the most vibrant in the country, to prove his doubters wrong. "We are proving that the project is viable and it will produce the rice that we want to see."
Mr. Ahwoi could not fathom the circumstance under which his colleagues were prosecuted and subsequently sent to jail, stressing "not that they stole any rice, they didn't eat a cup of rice, they didn't steal US $1.00 but the project called Aveyime that was being mismanaged by the then management sent my colleague Ministers, my friends and brothers to jail." That notwithstanding, he said "so we are back and thank God we are now in charge and we are running Aveyime again."
According to him, the Aveyime rice project which has been decked with so many controversies is that the controversial project has been conceived and become viable. Like all other projects, he noted that it could have gone astray since it happens everywhere.
He noted that for the crimes and iniquities of the Managers of the said project, he and his other colleagues had to suffer, saying "granted that we suffered, all the equipment that came for this project, the tax payers money that were used in bringing those equipment, the plane that was to spray the farm, the tractors, the silos, the rice mill which was described by the witnesses at that time as first class, were deliberately allowed by the then government to go waste."
The Food and Agriculture Minister described it as a fantastic project, indicating that with just one pump, out of the remaining 40 which is lying obsolete, he noted that they have already cultivated 300 hectares of the land and will do the next 300 hectares sometime soon.
According to him, they have harvested the first 80 hectares of rice from the farm. Obviously not happy with the fate he and his other colleagues were made to suffer, Mr. Ahwoi could not but asked "if we had not been political myopic and we had allowed this project to run 8years ago, can you imagine where this country will be by now in our rice exports?" Under the current circumstance, he noted that the government has no other option than to revamp the project and make it viable.

Ghana is moving backwards

-Arthur Kennedy

Posted: The Chronicle Monday, June 29, 2009.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The Director of Communications for the presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2008 general elections, Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy, believes the country’s image has sunk to its lowest ebb in recent times. Ghana’s economy is believed to be suffering a major setback, which is gradually affecting investor confidence in the country. In an interview with The Chronicle last Tuesday, the party stalwart noted “even Africa, as a place to invest, Ghana has dropped from our position to fourteen,” stressing that during the Kufuor and NPP era, the country became the best place in Africa to invest and do business. Apart from that, he noted, that one of the most significant things was the spirit of the people, indicating that people were no longer optimistic and hopeful, when you talk to them about the economy of Ghana. If one should ask ordinary people whether they are more hopeful or less hopeful just before the elections, or when the NPP was in power, he emphasised that one would come to the realisation that people are less hopeful, “it is something that should worry us.” He believes the free-fall of the value of the cedi against the United States Dollar, and most of the world’s major trading currencies, d contributed to the situation to a large extent. Meanwhile, Dr. Arthur Kennedy believes that a lot of the success of countries was due to psychology, stressing “when people are hopeful and optimistic, things go better, and I think probably the silver-lining is how well the Black Stars (the senior national football team) are doing.” Whilst he admits that it is not as though the government had done something bad, the NPP kingpin emphasised that people were not comfortable with the way and manner in which some things, including the harassment of members of the opposition NPP, the rejuvenation of the Dagbon and Bawku crises, were being handled. “It is just that people don’t feel about how some things are being done, because they have had serious omissions, things like the way the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has done its job, has been very bothersome to a lot of people,” he said. Whatever the case may be, Dr. Arthur Kennedy believes there is always hope, indicating “if the President starts doing things differently, there is still hope, for example, you know, I think when you pick up from the BNI stuff, when people are supposed to operate within the law and ask for accountability, and people are corrupt, they should be prosecuted, but I do not think that it is the place of the BNI or the Security Coordinator to be announcing imminent prosecutions.” Once he does that, he believes “it undermines the integrity of decision, because then what he is telegraphing is that prosecutorial decisions are being made by political operatives, so people can reasonably be said to be having an axe to grind with other people.” Asked whether he had any level of confidence in the President, Dr. Arthur Kennedy said “I don’t.” Though he sees President Mills as a ‘fine person’, he stressed: “we don’t look at people’s reputations and say that things are alright, we need to look at what is happening. “When we look at the celebration of June 4th, the things that the BNI is doing to people, you get the feeling, and I hope I’m wrong, that this is a very decent guy who does not appear to be in control often times.” That notwithstanding, he wished President Mills well in his endeavours, with the hope that he is able to change the perception people and investors are having about him and his government.