They Collected Our GH¢200 And Destroyed Our Shops” – Suame Rounabout And Abrepo Junction Traders Weep As KMA Demolition Renders Them Jobless.

There was heavy wailing and chaos at Suame Roundabout this morning as the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) taskforce stormed the Suame Roundabout to Abrepo Junction stretch to carry out a massive demolition exercise.

Containers, kiosks and makeshift shops belonging to hardworking traders were pulled down with bulldozers, leaving the entire stretch completely cleared.

The exercise, which took many by surprise, has left scores of traders, most of whom are mothers and breadwinners, stranded and jobless.

Some of the affected traders who clashed with the KMA taskforce told Sompa News that they were given only short notice to vacate, which was not enough for them to find alternative places.

In a heartbreaking revelation, the traders alleged that some KMA officials had collected GH¢200 from each of them under the pretext of securing a new place for them to relocate, only for them to wake up this morning to see their containers and shops being demolished.

“We trusted them. They took GH¢200 from us saying they will give us a new place. Now they have destroyed everything we have. We have nowhere to go. How can we take care of our children and feed our families?” a devastated trader cried while trying to salvage her goods from the rubble.

Goods worth thousands of cedis have been destroyed, with traders seen packing scraps of their belongings on the roadside.

They are now passionately appealing to the Ashanti Regional Minister, Hon. Dr. Frank Amoakohene, the Mayor of Kumasi, and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to intervene and come to their aid, as their only source of livelihood has been taken away from them.

Story by Bismark Mensah@A/R.