You lied to the people’ – Accra Mayor, Nitiwul clash over Konkomba Yam Market plans

The Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul, and Accra Mayor Michael Kpakpo Allotey have clashed over plans to demolish parts of the Konkomba Yam Market at Agbogbloshie to make way for a proposed 24-hour economy market.

Nitiwul has questioned what he describes as a concentration on the section of the market occupied mainly by Konkomba traders, while other parts of the market remain reportedly unaffected.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story, the mayor rejected the suggestion that the Konkomba community was being singled out. He said he had visited the market more than 15 times before the 24-hour market project was introduced, and was involved in marking out the area earmarked for redevelopment.

“I don’t sit in the office, I am not an office mayor, I don’t wear political suit. I am always on the ground, I know what I am about, I know what I am saying, I don’t give fake news, I don’t deceive people,” he said on Wednesday, September 16.

The mayor also challenged Nitiwul’s account of the consultation process, accusing him of misleading the public about the project.

Allotey said the administration of President John Dramani Mahama had been working to improve conditions for Konkomba traders, and insisted the community was not being targeted.

Nitiwul, however, maintained that his concerns were about protecting the interests of traders and yam producers connected to the market. He said millions of people rely on the Konkomba Yam Market, and that a significant proportion of yam producers in his constituency supply it.

“In the case of the kokomba market, my people are the people of Ghana, the million people who buy yam at the kokomba yam market. 3-4 million yam are sold daily at the konkomba yam market so I represent those people. I also represent the yam producers from my own constituency, 90% of the yam producers are from my constituency so I represent them and I speak for them,” he said.

A key point of disagreement between the two is the engagement between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the market’s leadership. Nitiwul said the mayor met leaders of the Konkomba Yam Market on July 28 and presented them with markings and drawings showing the proposed development, and that the traders told the mayor it was their first meeting with him, with previous engagements having involved people they did not regard as their representatives.

Allotey disputed this account and accused the MP of contradicting his own earlier statements on whether consultations had taken place.

“You lied to the people. I have not met them as at that time, you told them we just woke up and we decided to do this work. You lied to the people and you have to apologise,” he said.