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Trading activities at the boisterous Race Course market in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital came to a complete halt on Thursday as the traders embarked on a massive demonstration in the morning to kick against their planned eviction from the place. The vast Race Course land, which is a bonafide property of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has served as one of the biggest marketing hubs in the Garden City for the past 10 years. After being evicted as a result of the 2001 decongestion exercise which hit the Kumasi metropolis, the Ashanti King offered his property for the resettlement of the thousands of the displaced traders. The expulsion of the traders became imminent after the ingenuity of the Asantehene led to the decision by a South African company to construct a multi-purpose business facility to be known as the Sunshine City. In order to ensure that the traders remain in business, King Solomon, as he is affectionately called, directed the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to find a place and relocate the traders for the project to commence. In view of this, the KMA contracted a Kumasi-based company known as T&K Enterprise to develop an area called Abinkyi, near Adum to accommodate the traders. The traders, numbering over 10,000, since the onset have protested fiercely against their relocation, thereby unduly delaying the commencement of the project which undoubtedly will raise the status of the Golden City. The embittered traders revealed that the new site cannot accommodate them, stressing that the amount being charged for a space is too exorbitant. More so, they argued that the place is not conducive for trading because the high tension which serves the whole Ashanti region had been relocated there, coupled with the fact that the source of the Subin River is located at the site. Daily Guide learnt that a trader who wants to acquire a stall at the new place is required to pay a whopping GH�6,000, whereas those who want to sell on tables are expected to pay GH�200. The aggrieved traders have consistently indicated that they do not understand why wood workers at Anloga junction were not asked to pay any amount when they were relocated to the Sokoban Wood Village to facilitate the construction of the Asokwa interchange. They contended that traders at the Race Course market are petty traders who cannot afford the amount being charged, stressing that people who can afford the amount would be given stalls at the new market. Again, the distressed traders indicated that KMA did not consult them before asking them to pay the stipulated amount. The goaded traders abandoned their trading activities on Thursday and staged a massive demonstration to protest against the decision to relocate them to the new place. Clad in red, black attire and head gears, the charged traders, who were mostly women, marched through the principal streets of Kumasi before arriving at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to present a petition to the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyeman Mensah. The electrified traders wielded placards some of which read �Otumfuo, your children are calling on you for mercy, KMA stop taking unilateral decisions, we can�t afford GH�6,000, better Ghana indeed� among others. As early as 6:00 am, the traders whose association is known as Federation of Race Course Traders, converged on the Race Course amid singing and dancing. Though the police who were duly notified of the demonstration had not arrived, the action-filled traders, led by their leaders swang into action, thereby causing heavy vehicular traffic on the road. A nasty incident nearly happened when a police officer made disparaging remarks about the demonstrators at the precincts of the RCC, as the demonstrators charged and nearly pounced on him. The police man, whose name was not immediately known, remarked that the traders were useless people who had no audacity to demonstrate against the decision by KMA to relocate them. Through the efforts of the Ashanti Regional Police Commander DCOP Patrick Timbillah, the situation was normalized and the leadership of the demonstrators, led by Issac Kwabena Boateng met with the regional minister and presented their petition to him. After receiving the petition, the regional minister promised to meet the leadership of the traders to resolve any outstanding matters and therefore asked them to continue their trading activities at the Race Course market until further notice. In the petition, the demonstrating traders entreated the KMA to prepare a vast area that could accommodate all traders and also reduce the cost of acquiring a space to trade. They also implored the KMA to consult the traders to address the problems to enable the Asantehene�s project commence smoothly. The traders categorically stated that they against the chosen area and the amount being charged by the authorities and not their relocation.