Unemployment in Ghana: Street hawkers call for regularization of Business

now Street haers in Ghana's Capital Acra are calling for regulation of the activities to address the growing unemployment rate in the country although they acknowledge the dangers associated with their work they argue that it remains their primary source of livelihood Channel One News is Kate W meno has been speaking with these haers to understand their concerns water commonly known as peel along with plantain chips bread mix Pie and and various other items are frequently sold on the street of Aqua it's not uncommon to find on shopping from a diverse range of products while stuck in traffic despite the intense heat and constant Danger from passing Vehicles the number of Street haers in ACA continues to rise almost daily so what drives these individuals to risk their lives in this world suaya Muhammad who has been haing in AA for 6 years shared her story with Channel One News what PL chips on a day [Music] averagely school like suaya many others have similar experiences to share assuming there is work I won't be selling in the traffic is some risky because H I'm a family woman if there is work I won't leave my children and be selling in the traffic I'm selling so that I can see something to give them food data from the Ghana statistical service indicate that there are between 500 and 1 million mobile businesses in Ghana including Haus the high on employment rate in the country is identified as a significant factor pushing people pull into this line of work Dr Anthony quaka head of industrial statistics at the Ghana statistical service notes that the rise in Mobile businesses driven by the need to reach customers wherever they are has fuelled this trend most of them also apply their trade by um crediting this W from other places without necessarily buying so many businesses have found a way of also so increasing their availability their feasibility or increas their trading by make sure they engage these engaging people to to undertake mobile businesses so this is one of the AL because of course if people do not have the time to go to to the market properly and people can chase them to where they are in terms of in the traffic and also in wherever they find themselves then there's a market that can e according to the AA Metropolitan assembly bylaw Street vending is prohibited despite the efforts of City authorities to Monitor and sometimes evict Haus their determination to earn a leaveing compels them to return to the streets as a compromise to avoid violating the law these haers are advocating for the regularization of di operations graduate but are the H demands realistic it is possible to kind of manage I would not say formalize manage the informal sector but I think it must be based on clear arrangement that exists or would be designed together with them to get them to trade or do their commercial activities properly if you talk of Hawkers you're talking of people in different categories we have those who sell with their pants on their head we have those who situate their commercial activities on caps around the roadsides we have those who don't care they put their wees on tracks or we and move around and it makes managing the city very difficult Dr Berard AIG who underscores the need for the government to designate specific areas for Hawkers away from the streets and stresses the importance of incorporating urban planning considerations into policym uh the lowest hanging fruits are that one government should identify clearly spaces within the city center where these people can be asked to group I know in Acra it's been done I know in Kumasi it's been done but people simply did not um follow those guidelines but um every function in a city takes place in a space so you need to identify clear spaces in the city center or around the city center or beyond the city center to ask them to trade there probably the first thing will be to just let them go there without any charges or fees but delineate clearly where each of the trading activities should take place that's the first one the second thing has to do with looking at Urban economy more seriously see we have crossed the Divide we have more than 52% of ghanians living in the city centers some are there not working some of there some are there you know trying to actualize themselves so if we do not look at Urban economy urban employment if we don't look at the various aspects of the urban economy and add it to you know getting what I've already said a space for these people to trade we are going to have uh far more serious problems I think going forward looking at the two manifestos of the two political parties none of them tackle the issue of Urban Development Urban economy Urban agriculture Urban security bban visibility none of them cover those areas and that is a bit of a of a worry with unemployment On The Rise Street hkers here in ACA are calling for the legalization of their activities to allow them to work without any confrontations or challenges for Channel One News my name is kit Oda ameno