The group of about 100 men and women, clad in red T-shirts and head bands, congregated at the Jackson’s Park at about 8 a.m.

At exactly 9 a.m, the group led by their chairman, Mr Theodore Kofi Aboagye, headed towards the Ministries area to submit their petition to the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Daffour, for onward submission to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

A section of the petition, a copy of which was made available to the Daily Graphic read; “She is driving away women and men who are selling on the streets to a place where there is no toilet and urinal and also not more than two plots. Drivers also are not handled well in the municipality as such, they are blaming President Akufo-Addo.  Koforidua is an NPP stronghold as such we will not sit down for the MCE to spoil our votes. She does not listen to advice”.

Complaints

An affected trader, who sold ladies underwear said, “we have been sitting at that place since J.J. Rawlings time. We were there when Kufuor, Atta Mills and Mahama came and nobody sacked us, so why now”? “We cannot all work in offices, we cannot steal. We are demonstrating but still appealing. Our accounts are drying up and we are currently relying on our savings to survive. We are on our knees”, he added.

“Currently, we are not able to sell, our goods are seized by officials of the assembly as soon as we display them”, he further stated.

Another affected trader, Mr Cosmos Inkum, a second-hand clothes dealer, said he had been trading for 28 years now.

“This is the work we have been doing to care for our families. I have not worked for two months now,” he stated.

Placards

The inscription on some of the placards read; “ Nana, Reject MCE’, ‘We will not vote 2020’, ‘MCE is a Hitler’, ‘MCE, 2020 will come for your votes; No Way’, Go MCE, your vote is one’ among others.

While on the street, the group, accompanied by a brass band, sang songs which sought to carry their message of frustration to the people of the municipality. “DCE wei dei we dey show Nana”, to wit “This DCE we will show Nana”, they chanted.

The demonstrators were accompanied by 13 policemen led by the Municipal Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Cosmos Anyan, who ensured law and order throughout the procession.

The police directed the chanted.

The demonstrators were accompanied by 13 policemen led by the Municipal Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Cosmos Anyan, who ensured law and order throughout the procession.

The police directed the group to wait in front of the main entrance to the Ministries enclave while their chairman conferred with the regional minister prior to addressing them.

The crowd grew bigger and the songs became even louder as they waited impatiently for the regional minister.

Address

After waiting for about 20 minutes the regional minister came to address the group

Prior to that, however, Mr Aboagye addressed the group saying, “I know that all of you gathered here today voted for Nana or...”  This was followed by a loud ‘yes’ from the demonstrators.

“Nana has brought us free education and health insurance but if you are hungry, will you vote for him? ‘No’, the crowd exclaimed.

“If you want NPP votes, it is Koforidua and Kumasi. If the woman is doing a good work, I will not follow these people”, he added.

“If she does not stop the decongestion exercise, the demonstrations will continue”, he stated.

“We have lied to them, we went and begged them for their votes when they were on the streets and that is my pain. It is sad,” Mr Aboagye stated.

“The petition should go directly to the President and the traders should be allowed to sell on the streets,” he further stated.

Regional Minister’s Response

Raising the letter submitted, Mr Daffour said, “your petition is captured in this letter.” He gave an assurance that it would be forwarded to the President.

“I have discussed this issue with some of you. However, if there are new issues, we will look at them,” he stated.