By Philip Antoh
The Mallam Market in Ablekuma North was once a bustling but ordinary trading hub. Not anymore. By day, it sells vegetables and cloth. By night, it sells sex and synthetic drugs and the two have become dangerously entangled.
Traders arriving at dawn have grown used to sweeping up used condoms, empty packets of tramadol, and discarded boxes of sexual enhancers like Dragon and Mr. Q. The prostitutes and drug peddlers who take full control after dusk do not bother to hide their trade. The market, locals say, operates a double shift: legitimate commerce by sunlight, illicit enterprise by moonlight.
According to investigations by The New Republic, the invasion began in 2020 coinciding with the NPP’s election victory. But traders point to a specific actor: Nii Oko Gyaman, popularly known as Nii Pampanku, the chief of Lafa and a well-known NPP figure believed to have served as a national security operative during the Akufo-Addo administration.
Nat Winston Beaumont, a representative of the Mallam Market Traders Association, alleges that Nii Pampanku seized reclaimed land earmarked for a lorry station. Claiming authority from the Sempe people, he began allocating plots for fees ranging from GH¢10,000 to GH¢30,000 depending on size.
The Gbawe people, who hold the principal allodial title to the land, took the matter to court. The court ordered both parties to submit composite plans. To date, the Sempe side and Nii Pampanku have failed to comply.
Instead, says Beaumont, Nii Pampanku has stationed his own boys in the market to monitor activity and report back. Traders complain of daily break-ins: shops and sheds looted, attacks on stallholders. The same boys, it is alleged, serve as “security” for the prostitutes who work the night shift.
When The New Republic approached the Ablekuma North Assembly, officials speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that an investigation is complete. They are simply waiting for “the appropriate time to strike.”
Another incident reveals the depth of the standoff. Early this year, the Municipal Chief Executive, Musah Kalamu, arrived at the market to officially commission a day-care centre. According to assembly sources, Nii Pampanku dispatched a fetish priest to heckle the MCE for the sin of not inviting the chief to the event.
Contacted for a response, Nii Pampanku denied any knowledge of boys monitoring the market. He claimed to have no direct influence there, adding that despite a court judgement against the Gbawe people, it has been some time since he last visited the area. He then threatened a lawsuit against this newspaper if the publication proceeds.
Mallam Market is not just losing its name. It is losing its soul and its traders are losing their safety. A market by day, a brothel by night, and a land dispute at the core. The assembly says it is ready to strike. Traders are asking: when? And against whom?
For now, the used condoms and tramadol packets keep appearing each dawn. And the boys of Nii Pampanku keep watching.