Traders at the Adehyeman Afia Kobi Apem Market at Abinkyi in Kumasi have massively demonstrated on yesterday against the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) for failure to allocate the stores they have been paid for to it members since 8 years in completion.
The traders, who numbered more than 1,000, wore red and black attires stage to this demonstration within the market terminal and consider it as peaceful one.
The traders claimed that certain aspects of the assembly’s activities were impacting negatively on their businesses, leading to reduced sales which was affecting them considerably.
They said the inability of the KMA to compel other traders in satellite markets, as well as street vendors, to move to the Adehyeman Afia Kobi Apem Market to trade was also affecting their daily sales.
Besides some of the Traders who are currently on the road sides and pavements owns most of the shed in Afia Kobi Market but they refused to trade there whereby the above mentioned association who are willing to occupy the market have been totally neglected by the KMA whereby they have paid every amount of money they supposed to pay.
The Secretary of the Adehyeman Afia Kobi Market Traders Association, Mr Tuffour Acheampong, in an interview with Sikka Fm after the demonstration, urged the KMA to enforce the laws that ban selling on streets in order to compel owners of the abandoned shops, stores and sheds to move to the market.
Again, since they paid money for the construction of the market in Mahama led administration, they should have share the stalls to them to occupy the market because they are many in numbers.
He attributed the low patronage of customers in the market to the empty sheds which were a disincentive for people who came there to purchase goods.
Mr Acheampong in his speech noted that, though they are not impressed with the low trading and low patronage in the market but since all their Association members have left stranded on the streets, they are giving KMA one week ultimatum to give them their sheds and stalls otherwise they will storm there without informing the authorities.
