Members of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) have denied allegations that vendors are being forcibly removed from the one-story structure housing material businesses at the Makola Market on December 31 in order to make room for a redevelopment project.
Speaking at a news conference in Accra, the Assembly’s presiding member, Hon. Musah Ziyad, was accompanied by both elected and appointed Assembly members. He clarified that the ongoing activity was not a forced expulsion as some traders had claimed, but rather a planned rehabilitation endeavour.
According to him, the project’s goal was to convert the current one-story material stores into a four-story, state-of-the-art marketplace to provide trading facilities, especially for vendors who currently operate in the Central Business District’s sidewalks, roadsides, and other unapproved locations.
Contrary to assertions that the impacted traders had not been involved, Hon. Ziyad, the Assemblyman for the Amamomo Electoral Area, stated that the redevelopment process had been preceded by extensive stakeholder consultations, meetings, and notices involving traders, shop owners, market leaders, and other affected persons.
He states that after Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, the mayor of Accra, took office, the AMA started taking steps to clear the city’s streets and pavements using the red line policy. In an attempt to give impacted traders alternate locations, the mayor, in consultation with the General Assembly, suggested building more market spaces and commercial avenues.
He revealed that yesterday, Monday, June 30, 2025, the General Assembly approved the plan to redevelop some existing market structures to make room for small-scale vendors who couldn’t afford the high capital requirements for stores. One of the first projects, he said, was the material stores close to the Ghana National Fire Service Metro Station.
According to the Presiding Member, all residents of the Makola Market material retailers on December 31, 2025, were invited to a stakeholder meeting on August 27, 2025, when they were formally informed of the redevelopment decision.
The Assembly Members stated that in order to start construction on the reconstruction of the Makola Market material stores on December 31, temporary relocation plans had been agreed for the impacted traders to relocate to a suggested location at the Community Center.
He revealed that the Assembly had created a verified album of 306 traders residing in the impacted area, including those operating near the project zone’s edge, as part of efforts to guarantee transparency and appropriate documentation. This album would serve as a guide for future relocation, engagement, and allocation arrangements.
He emphasised that recognised shop owners and valid allottees would be given preferential consideration throughout the allocation process, adding that impacted traders were guaranteed allocation following the project, while store occupiers were to get savings on the rent charged after completion.
In response to additional appeals, the Mayor extended the grace period for the traders’ temporary relocation from October 2025 to January 12, 2026, according to the Presiding Member. The Assembly maintained its commitment to ongoing engagement, fairness, and the protection of traders’ livelihoods while providing a modern, safe, and organised market facility in the collective interest of Accra’s growth and development.
Source: newsthemegh.com