Viral Video: Ho Resident Cries to Mahama Over Destruction of Traders' Goods in Market Clampdown

By Joylinda Laryea / June 10, 2025

A viral video making rounds on social media has captured a distressed resident of Ho passionately appealing to President John Dramani Mahama, following a forceful clampdown on roadside sellers in the Volta regional capital.

In the emotional video, the resident expresses outrage over the destruction of goods belonging to market women and petty traders by city authorities during a decongestion exercise.

"This is happening in Ho. They are breaking people’s things—our mothers, their goods, what they used money to buy. They are destroying everything. They didn’t find a place for them to trade, but they are destroying their things," the resident laments.

The clampdown, spearheaded by the Ho Municipal Assembly in collaboration with security agencies, is part of an ongoing effort to decongest key streets within the central business district. However, the approach has drawn sharp criticism from affected traders and the general public, especially after footage showed city guards dismantling stalls and confiscating goods.

"This is not what we voted for. Mahama, come and see what your people are going through. Where will they go? They have families to feed. Come to their aid," the resident pleads in the video, which has now gone viral across platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).

Many social media users have echoed the call, urging the government and local authorities to handle such exercises with empathy and to provide alternative spaces for traders before displacing them.

Some civil society groups have also condemned the destruction of goods, describing the move as inhumane and economically damaging to already vulnerable citizens.