The Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly has found an alternative 10 acre parcel of land in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region to relocate occupants of the government-owned Kaasuankuda site, including traders and settlers.
The move is expected to pave the way for the construction of a new market on the Kaasuankuda site under the government’s 24 hour economy programme, according to the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Haruna Mohammed Awal.
The assembly expects construction work on the project to begin within six weeks, subject to the completion of arrangements to relocate occupants of the site to land secured in the Shai Osudoku District.
The government has already allocated and released funds for the market project, but construction has yet to begin because parts of the land earmarked for redevelopment remain occupied by traders and settlers, some of whom have put up makeshift structures and use them as residential accommodation.
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Speaking to Graphic Online, Mr Awal said the assembly was completing arrangements to relocate the occupants to the 10 acre parcel of land secured in the Shai Osudoku District.
The relocation exercise follows a longstanding dispute between the assembly and occupants of the land, which Mr Awal said had delayed access to the site and slowed implementation of the project.
The MCE told Graphic Online on Friday [June 19, 2026] that he was working to provide water and electricity to the new site.
The Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, had questioned the delay in the utilisation of funds allocated for the project during a monitoring tour of four municipal assemblies in Accra on June 10, 2026.
Mr Awal explained that the assembly had received GH¢42 million out of the GH¢58 million allocated under the government’s 24 hour economy initiative.
According to him, about 10 per cent of the amount had been spent on preliminary works, including the drilling of boreholes, while the remainder had been retained pending access to the project site.
“We are on course. That is why the money is still sitting in the account. It is not like we do not have any plan at all for it. We have the plan for it,” he said.
Mr Awal said the occupants had petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Legal Aid Commission and the Ministry of Local Government over efforts to reclaim the land.
Vacate land earmarked for market project - Ayawaso North MCE to occupants
He said the assembly subsequently adopted a resettlement approach following advice from CHRAJ.
“We are now going to create potable water access for them and then electricity to the site. Then we can eject them from Kaasuankuda and then pave the way for the 24 hour economy market,” he said.
Asked whether the assembly required support from the ministry or any other state institution to proceed with the project, Mr Awal said gaining access to the site remained the only outstanding challenge.
“All we need to do is create access to move the people and then have access to the site. That is it,” he said.
