The Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has distanced himself and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) from an alleged ‘loan’ scheme at the Makola Market, assuring traders that investigations have begun to fish out and arrest individuals involved in collecting money from market women in the name of the Assembly.

According to him, the AMA does not give out loans to market women and has not authorised anybody to collect money from traders under the pretext of securing loans.

This followed reports that a group of individuals engaged traders at the Makola Market, claiming they could provide loans, and allegedly took about GH¢2,000 each from some traders. The traders said the individuals involved were currently nowhere to be found.

Speaking during an interaction with traders at the Makola Market during the National Sanitation Day clean-up exercise, the Mayor acknowledged that, as traders, they would naturally seek funds to inject into their businesses but cautioned that the desire for financial support could make them vulnerable to scams and extortion.

The Mayor said that while he had, on some occasions, personally supported individuals with money to engage in businesses, those were private interventions and not an AMA programme.

He told the traders that he had not sanctioned any person or group to operate in his name or the AMA and said he would not allow anyone to use his name during his tenure as Mayor to extort money from traders.

He assured the market women that the Assembly, working with relevant authorities, would pursue the matter to its logical conclusion, stressing that the suspects would be traced and dealt with in accordance with the law.

He stressed that the AMA was not charging or collecting any money to permit traders to sell on pavements or other open spaces and urged traders to desist from paying anyone who promises to allocate them spaces to trade.

He wished the traders a Merry Christmas and assured them that the Makola Market had been earmarked for expansion under the 24-hour economy market initiative.