AMA to Reward Traders Who Stay Within Red Lines With GH¢1,000 Packages

Traders in Accra's Central Business District (CBD) who keep to their allotted trading spaces could receive a GH¢1,000 Christmas package from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the city's mayor has said.

Accra Mayor Michael Kpakpo Allotey announced the initiative on Saturday, November 7, after the National Sanitation Exercise, as first reported by Citi News.

According to the mayor, the package is meant to recognise traders who obey the Assembly's red-line restrictions. The restrictions were introduced last year to regulate trading and bring more order to the capital.

Mr Allotey said the Assembly had noticed that compliance with the directive was uneven. While some traders had kept within the marked boundaries, others had continued to disregard the rules, he explained.

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He said the AMA would carry out unannounced inspections in the city and observe traders several times before deciding who is eligible for the support.

The mayor made clear that being found within the lines on one visit would not be enough. Traders would have to show that they comply with the directive on a consistent basis to qualify, he said.

"We are putting our packages together. Some of them are worth GH¢1,000," Mr Allotey said.

He described a monitoring process in which officials would check on traders on three or four separate occasions to confirm that they had remained in their designated spaces.

"If you are found complying with the directive, we will give you this package of GH¢1,000," he said.

Mr Allotey said the packages would be handed out during the Christmas season. He described the gesture as part of the Assembly's efforts to give back to market women in the city.

The red-line directive forms part of the AMA's wider push to manage trading activity in the CBD, where the Assembly has sought to keep traders within designated areas.