The Accra Turf Club has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to intervene in the demolition of the Accra Race Course at Borteyman and help secure the club’s land.
The appeal was made on Tuesday, when jockeys, trainers, horse owners, grooms, stable hands, veterinary service providers, feed merchants and other stakeholders staged another peaceful demonstration over the continued closure of the race course.
The protesters said their main concern was the protection of their rights and livelihoods following the August 22 demolition, which they attributed to Mr Clement Dzato and his associates.
The spokesperson for the group, Mr Samuel Acheampong, said the stakeholders were appealing directly to the President to help them regain access to the land and restore the race course to enable them to return to their businesses.
He said the demolition was gradually taking a toll on their businesses, with the closure of the facility affecting the incomes of people who depended on the race course for their livelihoods.
Mr Acheampong said anything that had been demolished should be reconstructed to allow the Turf Club and the people who worked around it to resume their activities.
According to the protesters, the matter was not simply about horse racing but also involved the protection of property rights, livelihoods and an agreement between the government and the Turf Club.
They said the Borteyman race course was established after the government asked the Turf Club to relocate from its former location, where the Kempinski Hotel and the Accra International Conference Centre are now situated.
According to the club, the relocation formed part of a 2006 agreement with the government, while a High Court order dated March 8, 2005, authorised the demarcation of 46.64 hectares for the Turf Club.
The protesters therefore called on the Lands Commission to complete the documentation of the 46.64 hectares and issue the appropriate title to the Turf Club in accordance with the relocation arrangement.
They said the club had honoured its side of the agreement and expected the government and its agencies to do the same.
The demonstration followed an earlier protest on September 10, during which affected stakeholders and supporters marched through the principal streets of Accra and presented a petition.
The stakeholders said the August 22 demolition had created serious hardship for people whose work depended on the race course.
They said many workers had lost their incomes, while some who lived at the facility had also lost their accommodation.
Families, they said, were struggling to meet basic needs, including food, rent and school expenses.
The continued closure of the facility had also affected horse owners and other businesses connected to racing.
They said there had been no races, training or stable work since the demolition, further worsening the plight of people whose livelihoods depended on the facility.
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG
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