The Tomato Traders and Transporters Association of Ghana will embark on a strike action effective Sunday, 7 February, 2020.

The strike action by the association is in protest against the spate of armed robbery attacks on its members on the Kumasi-Bolga-Burkina Faso road.

According to the group, seven of its members have been robbed and shot in less than three weeks while returning from Burkina Faso.

The association revealed that a driver died on Friday, 5 February 2020, after he was shot together with his mate by armed robbers while on their way to Burkina Faso.

The association further noted that nothing has been done about the increased robbery attacks on its members, despite complaints to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong Boanuh.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, 5 February 2020, National Vice-Chairman of the Association, Abraham Nana Poku said: “We’re by this medium cautioning all tomato drivers in Ghana, who transport tomatoes with their vehicles that from Sunday, we do not want to see them on the roads, transporting tomatoes. Whoever, disobeys this order and goes to transport tomatoes, we’re telling all Ghanaians that we’ll destroy their tomatoes.

“Because we’ve informed government and his IGP but they ignored us. So we’re taking the law into our hands to do what’s in our best interest, that way, they’ll value us [the association].”

The association added that the silence of the authorities involved is what has necessitated its decision to embark on a strike from Sunday.

“Last week, we decided to send letters to District and Regional Commanders and wait for the results. It’s been over a week, we haven’t heard or seen anything. With today’s incident, we’re standing firm, we have over 1500 members and so we rotate. We have vehicles inside, we know when they’ll leave, when they do, from Sunday, we won’t allow any of the vehicles to cross the border again.”