Angry Artisans In Bolga Cry On Trade Minister For Aid As Assembly Locks Up Shops

Angry artisans at the Bolgatanga Craft Village have appealed to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Haruna Iddrisu, to help address what they describe as “critical economic pains” before “things spin out of control”.

Their appeal comes after the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly locked up forty-four shops at the craft village after exhausting its patience with occupants who failed to pay up a stockpile of rents owed. The latest development has deepened the woes of the artisans who say they already do not realise good sales at the market. 

“This problem,” said Dennis Apoita, spokesperson to the Basket Dealers Association at the Bolgatanga Craft Village, “is heading nowhere at the local level. We want Honourable Haruna Iddrisu to come into this matter and solve this problem once and for all for us, especially we the basket weavers and dealers at the Bolgatanga Craft Village. The deadline they (the Assembly) gave us was 21st of February. They have come to lock our shops. We are not getting market (sales). We explained it to them. We are not saying that we will not pay. We are only saying they should give us more time. In fact, we just want the Trade Minister to help us look at this matter because it is getting out of hand. We want a lasting solution to this problem.”

Meanwhile, the affected artisans are holding the same Assembly responsible for the default. They say sales have been terribly low since the Assembly relocated them from their original market to a less-customer-familiar site, hence their inability to pay their rent on time. 

It would be recalled that the Centre for National Culture (CNC), on whose land the craft village is situated, descended on the Assembly in 2013, accusing the Assembly of having hijacked the craft village from the CNC and mismanaging its affairs. Since 2007, the washrooms at the craft village have been blocked to a good number of tourists whilst erosion has taken over the premises, reportedly scaring many more tourists away. 

Ever since the Assembly locked up their shops this week, the main gates to the craft village have remained closed to patrons and passers-by. 

“We don’t have sales. We only come to open our shops and sit down. We are not saying we will not pay. We were paying at our old place. They should give us some time and bring the market here. We have appealed to them to let us organise the money; they said no; they say they want the money in their hands before they will open the shops for us,” Thomas Apaala, another artisan who owes ninety-six Ghana cedis (Gh¢96), told Savannahnews.

Whilst assuring the assembly of their determination to defray their debts only if given more time, the artisans are also calling on the Assembly to make their stay at the craft village more viable. This, they say, will prevent similar delays in the payment of rents in the future. 

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Bolgatanga, Edward Ayagle, did not respond when this blogger tried a number of times to reach him on the phone for his comments on the matter. 

By Edward Adeti