The untold story of how Agbogbloshie Market, Sodom and Gomorrah came into being

Many Ghanaians, particularly Accra residents, when asked about the economic hub of the capital will most likely mention Kantamanto and Makola as the places where trading activities take place.

Rightly so, Kantamanto and Makola have earned the reputation but the role of Agbogbloshie as the cornerstone of Accra’s economic activities cannot be overemphasized.

At the mention of Agbogbloshie, the thought that springs to mind is that it is a place that serves as the converging point of almost every vegetable on the globe.

But amid the blessings that Agbogbloshie offers Ghanaians, particularly Accra residents, is the curse of it being one of the most hazardous places on the globe.

In 2013 a research by New York-based NGO, Blacksmith Institute discovered Agbogbloshie as the most toxic place on earth.

Since the publication, efforts have been made to reduce the toxicity of the area with the current minister of the Greater Accra Region taking measures to free up the place.

But how did Agbogbloshie come to be what it is today?

Leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party and the spokesperson of the Ga-Adangbe Council, Nii Ayikoi Otoo has provided a detailed background into how Agbogbloshie cme to being.

“The land was originally acquired to be used for Korle Lagoon Recreational Development Area. A scheme was made for that but it didn’t come off for a very long time until ET Mensah became a mayor.

He decided that Makola was not fit for purpose anymore so he needed land to send some of the traders there. He went for Agbogbloshie and started the Agbogbloshie market. When you are going from the Mosque at Abossey-Okai towards Accra, the left was where the Agbogbloshie market was.” He also recounted how the place currently known as Sodom and Gomorrah became an off-shoot of the Kokomba-Nanumba war.

“Following the Kokomba-Nanumba war, people had to flee the fight so they spoke to the Ga- Mantse for clearance there and it then became known as Sodom and Gomorrah,” he narrated on TV3.

KPE/DA