Kejetia Market fire: Tension brews over missing 200k donation from Dr. Bawumia to victims
Tension is rising at Kejetia Market in the Ashanti Region over a missing donation of 200,000 Ghana Cedis from Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to fire victims.
According to traders, the Vice President donated 20,000 Cedis during his recent tour of the region, but the money never reached them.
Instead, some queen mothers allegedly seized the money, claiming it was given to them as a token to share.
However, the traders suspect that the queen mothers have kept the money for themselves.
The General Secretary for the Combined Kejetia Trades Association, Reuben Amey, addressed the media on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, revealing that the Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei Opare, intervened and donated 300,000 Cedis to the traders after they planned a massive demonstration.
However, the traders claim that the market management has refused to hand over the additional 300,000 Cedis to the fire victims, attempting to swindle the money once again.
The Leader of the Kejetia Fire Victims, Mr.Nathaniel Boampondem, expressed disappointment in the handlers of Dr. Bawumia and Kejetia Management, calling on authorities, particularly the NPP leadership, to act swiftly to avoid chaos at the market.
The traders are demanding that the authorities ensure the fire victims receive the money, and they have threatened to take action if the issue is not resolved promptly.
Background
On March 15, 2023, a section of the Kejetia market was torched by an inferno, leaving many victims distressed.
Property and wares running into millions of cedis were destroyed by the fire.
The fire incident is one of the over nine hundred cases recorded in the region from the beginning of the year to December 10, 2023.
The figure represents a 13.42% reduction on the number of cases (1,058) recorded under the same period in 2022.
Nine fatalities were recorded from these cases, although a reduction from the 15 lost lives in 2022.
The estimated cost of damaged property also shot up astronomically in the year although a significant cost of salvaging property was made.
“Approximately GHS 226,701, 206.00 were lost as a result of these fire cases. Although there were losses we managed to salvage over GHS 370 million worth of properties as compared to the more than GHS 340 million recorded for last year,” he said.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Jacob Agyenim Boateng
