The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has demolished hundreds of sheds at the Kwadaso onion market in Kumasi.
According to the council, operations at the onion market pose a security risk.
It said parking heavy-duty trucks on portions of the road near the market was causing vehicular traffic, especially at peak hours.
The council also attributed a recent accident that claimed the life of a 45-year-old woman to the operations in the market.
The REGSEC had ordered the traders to vacate the premises by April 21, 2024.
They were further directed to move to a new market at Atwima Takyiman but the majority of them refused.
On Monday, April 22, the council deployed armed police and military officers to the Kwadaso onion market to forcefully relocate the remaining traders and demolish their structures.
As the exercise went on, some traders could be seen making a last-minute attempt to salvage their belongings.
However, affected traders have insisted they were not officially notified of the demolition exercise, raising tempers at the scene.
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“We were at the workplace and we saw the military and police are all over with a bulldozer, that the regional minister and MCE are relocating us which we were not aware of.
“We just heard it on the radio and you cannot relocate somebody based on what he heard on the radio, you have to give the person an official notice and give you time, maybe three months or four months that we are relocating you before you can relocate us,” one of the traders told reporters.
They said they were in the process of gathering funds to purchase the land from the government.
“You cannot just come this morning and say you are relocating us, that you got a place at Atwima Takyiman, and that we should go there, which is not fair. And here, we were told that they were selling the place to us, that’s what our elders told us and we were gathering money to pay for it,” another lamented.