In Accra's Avenor and North Industrial Area, the pavement is no longer for pedestrians. It's a showroom for bicycles, a repair shop for buses, a pen for cattle, and a tyre dump — all at once.
A visit on Thursday, June 11, revealed stretches of walkways completely blocked. Bicycles lined up for sale. Faulty buses parked for months. Used tyres stacked high. Cattle and sheep penned along the path. In many spots, there's literally no space left for a person to walk.
So pedestrians do the only thing they can: they step onto the road and walk alongside moving cars, trucks, and trotros.
“Sometimes it's very risky walking by the roadside because there's no space left on the pavement,” said Aysha, an egg and pepper seller who lives in the area. She blamed part of the problem on long-distance buses that park on the pavement after returning from trips. “Some of the buses take over parts of the pavement when they come back from their long journeys, and they're faulty. Sometimes it takes months before some of them are repaired,” she said.
According to Aysha, the obstruction affects everyone. “Sometimes the moving cars get congested in one place because it's difficult for them to move freely. It causes traffic and leaves pedestrians stranded because there's nowhere to pass; we're even scared for our lives,” she added.
Traders admit they know the pavements aren't meant for business — but they say they have no choice.
One bicycle seller who didn't want to be named said the pavement is the only place to display his goods. “There's no way or place we can showcase the bicycles unless we display them by the roadside on the pavement. That's what attracts more customers for us to get sales,” he said. He added that they've left “a bit of space for people to pass, even though we know the pavement is meant for pedestrians. But business must go on.”
Livestock seller Faisal keeps his cattle and sheep on the walkway for the same reason. “We keep the animals here because it's easier for customers to see them when they pass. We can't go anywhere because we've been doing this business here for a long time, and we have a lot of customers now; we'll lose them when we move,” he explained. “We acknowledge residents' plight, but they should also understand that this is business.”
Residents aren't buying that argument. Aysha said regulations must be enforced to stop people from getting knocked down by vehicles. “We're even scared for our lives,” she repeated.
The situation is a daily reality for commuters and residents in the area. With no enforcement in sight, pedestrians in Avenor and North Industrial Area continue to gamble with their safety — walking on roads because the pavement is no longer theirs.
“Sometimes it's very risky walking by the roadside because there's no space left on the pavement.” — Aysha, resident and egg seller