Afehyia pa
With barely 24 hours to Christmas Day, traders in the central business district (CBD) in Accra yesterday made frantic efforts to catch the attention of potential customers to patronise their goods.
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Consequently, they virtually took over every little space to display their goods, hoping to cash in on the frantic moves by last-minute shoppers.
The shouts, ringing of bells and the loud music blaring from well-positioned loud speakers were deafening, all in an attempt to draw the attention of passers-by to their wares.
Similar scenarios were seen at the Kaneshie and Mallam Atta markets, where traders virtually dragged people to their wares.
The commonest items visibly displayed were children’s clothing, shoes and toys; candies, firecrackers, rice and assorted drinks, among other goods.
Traffic
In the melee, there was a gridlock that resulted in a situation where passengers resorted to walking instead of waiting to board vehicles.
Even the outskirts of the city were not spared the traffic jam, though the central business district was the most affected.
At the various market centres, traders, pedestrians and vehicles competed for space, while head porters, popularly called kayaye, were the busiest group of people in the market.
Mixed reaction
At all the market places that the Daily Graphic visited, traders were divided over the level of patronage of their goods.
While some complained of low patronage compared with the previous year, others were happy with the level of patronage.
Those who complained of low patronage said majority of the people in the market were window shopping, while the few who were buying would ask for discounts.
Some women buying foodstuffs at Makola in Accra.
Low patronage
At the central business district in Accra, the traders attributed the low sales to the lack of money in the system.
Others also attributed the low patronage of goods to the December 7 polls, which, they said, created in a situation where many businessmen and women did not import goods for the Christmas celebration.
That, according to some of the traders, had caused the shortage of items such as cooking oil.
Anita, a trader, said she had stocked her shop with new items but the expected purchases were not forthcoming.
She, however, expressed the hope that sales might improve today.
Head porters carrying goods for their customers. Pictures: SAMUEL TEI ADANO
Better sales
On the contrary, Ablewa, a trader at the CMB Market in Accra, told the Daily Graphic that this year’s patronage of her goods was an improvement over that of the previous Christmas.
She said there was no change in the prices of goods as had been the case on such occasions.
Ms Gifty Annor, a clothes seller, expressed similar sentiments and said she ran out of stock and had to order for another consignment of goods to serve her customers.
Ms Annor said the price of the dresses ranged between GH¢25 and GH¢200 cedis and that she was able to make sales of about GH¢2,000 a day.
A tomatoes seller, who gave her name only as Evelyn said sales had been normal.
Mr Ibrahim, who sells chicken, told the Daily Graphic that demand for the birds had been high this year.
He said a fowl cost GH¢30 and that he had been able to sell more than 50 birds a day since last Monday.