Walking in the Central Business District of the capital, Accra is almost a hassle. This is because at every turn, there are hawkers calling and others pulling you in their quest to get your attention to buy their wares.
There is always heavy vehicular traffic as well as human congestion caused by activities of hawkers. The situation sometimes becomes unbearable, especially in the scorching sun.
Moving hawkers from the streets has become one of the things feared by politicians as these street vendors often threaten to punish politicians at the polls.
But there does not seem to be any alternative to deal with this problem.
Customers and pedestrians who visit the Makola market in Accra to shop, tell Citi News’ Ann-Shirley Ziwu that they are forced to use the streets, and compete with vehicles, instead of the pavements designated for them.
This is because hawkers have taken over the pavements and turned them to their trading spots.
Pedestrians, who insist on using the pavements, have the unpleasant experience of ‘elbowing’ their way through the market and in some cases crushing down wares that have been displayed on the pavements, which usually causes heated confrontation.
Some pedestrians complain about how uncomfortable it is shopping in the commercial centre.
“The congestion on the pavements, allow pickpockets to get access to other people’s items,” Eric Opoku, a customer told Citi News.
Another pedestrian said, “it’s really uncomfortable walking in this market, the traders keep holding on to you tightly just so you can buy their goods.”
This attitude of hawkers causes congestion within the market as vehicles delivering and collecting produce will need enough space to move thus bumping into pedestrians using the road.
This does not only affect the security and safety of customers but the traders as well, as they are exposed to accidents on the streets.
Some customers who prefer shopping in the commercial centre expressed fears as they say they are likely to experience accidents while using the road.
“It’s not the best for traders to sell on the pavements causing pedestrians to walk on the streets. It can cause accidents,” a frustrated customer cried out.
Joe Obinkura, another customer asked the government to evict the hawkers.
“This situation has been here for years and nobody cares to move them [hawkers]. I feel they can still be moved to make way for pedestrians because walking on the road and in between traffic is very dangerous.”
While shoppers contend with hawkers for space, heaps of garbage are also left on the same pavements compounding the problem. The poor sanitation situation in the market evidenced by the heaps of garbage is a major health threat that city authorities must work at addressing.
As hawkers multiply in our markets, the sidewalk space available for pedestrians is shrinking.
The issue of how to make room for such vendors is becoming an urgent and controversial issue that city authorities must face and solve permanently to maintain sanity and order.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly sacked traders from the pavements of Makola and along other major streets within the metropolis in 2017, but the traders returned a few days after.