Deity believed to have driven away fishmongers
A group of fishmongers who usually sell their wares behind the Anaafo Market in the Cape Coast Metropolis, are stranded, after being chased away by a tree deity nearby, for not keeping the sacred area clean.
The deity called “Nana Paprata”, believed to be one of the 77 gods of Cape Coast, allegedly possessed a young man whose name was only given as Kobina, two weeks ago, who drove away the fishmongers while they were doing brisk business.
The energetic young man, according to eye witnesses, scattered the wares of the fishmongers, threw some into a nearby storm drain, and overturned their trays and seats in the process.
Some of the fishmongers were able to run away with their wares, while the unfortunate ones watched on helplessly while Kobina destroyed their wares running into hundreds of cedis.
According to eyewitnesses, Nana Paprata, speaking through Kobina, expressed dissatisfaction with the fishmongers who dried salted fish, dumped the intestines and scales of fish, and even decomposing sea food into the storm drain, making the place to stink.
The Anaafo Market Queen, Maame Akosua Serwaa, who corroborated the incident in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the extent of pollution of the area was a source of worry to both traders and patrons of the market.
She said several attempts by the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) and some divisional chiefs from the Oguaa Traditional Council, to compel the fishmongers to move into the main market, over the years, had proved futile.
She recounted that when the market was constructed several years ago, the fishmongers were provided with sheds, but they refused to occupy them, citing higher sales behind the market, as their main reason for not moving into the sheds.
Maame Serwaa, however, appealed to the fishmongers to join the other traders in the market to ensure their safety.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the CCMA, Mr Nicholas Addo, said during the recent renovation of the market, the Assembly provided more sheds for them, but that the traders were just refusing to move into them.
He said the Assembly had played its role, and expected the fishmongers to comply to ensure their own comfort.
The fishmongers had since the incident, moved to the other side of the street, but the GNA observed that their closeness to the street posed a threat not only to their lives, but those of their children who were often left unattended.
Some who spoke to the GNA said they were aware of the threat their new location had on their lives, but were adamant in moving since they would lose their customers and record low sales.
Meanwhile some residents of Cape Coast have predicted that the fishmongers would return to their former location sooner or later as it happened in the past.
Source: GNA