Ho Assembly and Central Market Women disagree over market stalls, levies

Ho, Aug. 21, GNA - The Ho District Assembly and the Ho Central Market Women Association are on a collision course over the collection and utilisation of market tolls and the conditions for allocating new market stalls under construction.

The immediate fallout of the differences was the arrest on Thursday of one Nii Awuley by the Police for inciting the market women not to pay tolls to the Assembly.

The arrest prompted the market women, clad in red and black to besiege the Ho Police station to demand the release of Nii Awuley. The market women had written to the Ho District Chief Executive threatening that until further notice, they would stop paying market levies from Monday August 18, this year "since we don't know the uses to which those monies collected are put".

A copy of the letter made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) by Madam Theresa Mansa Dagbey, President of the Volta Region Market Women's Association, alleged that women from surrounding villages were planning to stop patronising the Central Market because of the high levies and tolls.

The women said current stalls being constructed in the market were too small and expensive, and that information reaching them indicated that the stalls would cost occupants one million cedis each instead of 500,000 cedis.

"We are appealing for a reduction in the price of the stalls and the levies or we will advise ourselves", the letter said. Mr Mawutor Goh, Ho District Chief Executive, told the GNA that it was unlawful for the market women to prevent the assembly's toll collectors from doing their work.

He said the law establishing the Assembly mandated it to be the sole authority to collect market tolls, which he said, constituted one of the internal sources of revenue for the assembly to meet its social and other responsibilities.

Mr Goh explained that revenue from market tolls and levies were not meant solely for the maintenance of the market.

Regarding the size of new stalls, he said the plan was a prototype one that was being used throughout the country and that a committee, including Madam Dagbey, was yet to outline modalities for allocation and pricing.

He warned that the assembly would act resolutely against the practice of some market women, who often sublet the stalls allocated to them to others.