Assembly to regulate foreign traders in Ho

Mr Divine Richard Bosson, Municipal Chief Executive of Ho, says the Assembly would pursue measures to regulate the activities of foreign traders in the Volta Regional capital. Foreigners, including from Mali, Nigeria, and Niger, and whose numbers are on the increase as inland borders continue to hinder passage to Accra, have found the Ho Municipality a haven, and are striving to establish economic ventures. The entire street of the Ho Central Market has been taken over by mostly Nigerians dealing in mobile phones, while their counterparts from Mali and Niger had become free itinerant roamers of the Municipality hawking shoes and bags, in what some indigenes fear is a looming security threat. Indians and Lebanese are also becoming visible in the Municipality of late, credit-selling home appliances and other products to salary workers – an act that sidesteps international laws of commerce. The MCE, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the car park of the Central market had been taken over
by the immigrant traders, while locals lacked space for their produce. He revealed that local traders had threatened arms against the situation, and that a chapter of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations had been swiftly constituted in an attempt to protect Ghanaian businesses. Mr. Bosson said Executives had been engaging the Assembly, and that an operation was being planned to ‘clear the car park,’ and had alternative arrangements to move such trades to the new market buildings. ‘Their presence is affecting local trade, and there are security concerns too, so the local GUTA executives are calling on me daily to do something,’ he stated. The MCE went on to note the issue of space at the market, where traders were fast developing lockable container stores under open sheds. He said such structures were unauthorised and obstruct pathways in the busy market, raising the risks of fire, and hindering emergency access. The MCE said the Assembly would remove such containers to make the open sheds available for the
intended use by local food sellers and producers.

Source: Ghana News Agency