Angry Kejetia, Central markets traders threaten to picket Jubilee House naked

Some traders who have been relocated from the Central and Kejetia markets in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region have also threatened to picket the Jubilee House naked as well as voting against the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the allocation of stalls at the new Kejetia market.

According to the traders who are members of the Kejetia Traders Association (KTA) and Concerned Central Market traders Association (CCMTA), the KMA in an attempt to cheat them has hijacked the release of allocation papers and tenancy agreement that will enable them to access the new market.

The traders, on Monday, 30 September 2019, closed their shops and protested over what they described as the lack of transparency in the allocation of the stalls in the new market.

Clad in their red banners at a press conference at the Kumasi Central Market, the traders explained that the KMA after displacing them for four years has refused to allocate to them their shops in the new market even though the market is ready for trading activities.

They explained that the continuous delay in the opening of the market is not only distasteful but also a disrespect to the wish of the Asantehene Otumfour Osei Tutu II.

Addressing the media at a joint press conference organised by Kejetia Traders Association, Concerned Central Market Traders Association and Eleven Member Steering Committee of Kumasi Central Market, the group PRO, Andrew Kwofie, said their request that a deposit of 20 per cent of the cost of the shops be paid and the balance spread over a period has been rejected.

According to them, the KMA officials have rather ordered them to procure loans to pay for the shops in the new market at a high-interest rate.  

Mr Kwofie also described as harsh and oppressive, the demand by the KMA for Central Market traders to pay for the temporary place of occupation with bank loans.

He noted that all these problems of allocation among other things are being created by the government and the KMA.

It is an attempt by the government and the KMA, he alleged, to punish over 1,500 members of Kejetia Traders Association and over 8,000 Central Market traders.

He, therefore, on behalf of the traders, gave the KMA a seven-day ultimatum to ensure that their demands are met or face their wrath.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Ebenezer Amankwah