Over 15,000 artisans at Suame Magazine industrial hub, zone 13 in the Ashanti regional capital are facing eviction following a court order granted to a private developer.
The Zone 13 portion of the industrial hub has been bought by a private developer through the assistance of the land commission and served an eviction notice.
The land according to the artisans is covered by an Executive Instrument (E.I. 36), hence if they want to evict them from there, that instrument should be amended in parliament.
They say they are heading towards a crisis because when they are evicted livelihoods would be affected.
The artisans occupying the land since 1989 say they have nowhere to go after the eviction.
The chairman of zone 13, Eric Arhin said the situation is a big blow to them if not changed. He called on the government and Asantehene to intervene on their behalf.
Some of the artisans have threatened to vote against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December elections if the government fails to act on their behalf.
”We have been working on this government land for many years. Under the current NPP regime the land has been sold to private individuals with the support of the Lands commission. What is going on in this country under the NPP regime. Why are they selling every government property?
“About 15,000 people who will be affected by the eviction, at least 95% of the men voted for the NPP. We shall see what will happen in the next election. Voting against the NPP will be a spontaneous assignment in Suame Magazine,’’ he threatened.
The protester accused the Ashanti regional minister Simon Osei Mensah of disappointing them after reaching out to his office to resolve the issue which is ejecting about 15,000 artisans in the area.
A spare parts dealer and NPP leading member, Kwabena Nsenkyire, who stormed the area to calm things down assured them of the intervention of the vice-president.
“I’m equally a victim of the unfortunate eviction not served to us. But because the case is in court we have to respect the court. The Vice President will intervene to get this issue resolved for peace to resume in zone 13. Let’s not do anything that will destabilize peace in Magazine’’ he assured.
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