Residents of Maamobi clad themselves in red matched on the major streets of Accra on Thursday to protest against the Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly’s plan to evict them in 21 days.
Eviction time they say is too short as they have lived most of their life in the community.
“Twenty-one days is not sufficient. Please add more time so we can pack our belongings and evacuate the premise. My child is about to write Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), please give us time,“ one resident said.
Another added, "I have no place to go."
According to the Assembly man Wisdom Boateng, the land was given to them by their predecessors by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
They have been on the land since 1967 up to date and therefore have paid revenue to then AMA and the current Ayawaso West Municipal Assembly.
“We want the government to intervene in this decision because we are citizens. We can’t just use one week or twenty-one days to evacuate the premises. We have resided on the land since 1967, so we are not foreigners, we are Ghanaians. “So the state should have some patience with us. We can’t litigate with the state,” Wisdom Boateng pleaded.
The government over the years has attempted to demolish the illegal structures on the land to pave the way for the construction of a market complex but has not been able to do it.
The Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly has decided to demolish the illegal structures on August 28.
The residents however say the notice for the eviction is short, hence the protest.