Asanteman Council resolves impasse between KMA, traders over Kejetia Market Redevelopment Project
The Asanteman Council has directed the Kejetia Traders Association to withdraw its court case seeking to place an injunction on the re-construction of the US$198 million first phase of the Kejetia Market by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA).
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It also asked the KMA to submit to the council within one month an audited list of all legitimate traders and allied bodies as a guarantee that the traders would be given the first option to own the shops and stalls upon the completion of the project in two-and-half years.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the council, Daasebre Osei Bonsu, who is also the Mamponghene, said this at a meeting with the stakeholders last Friday at the instance of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to resolve all outstanding matters that are stalling the commencement of the Kejetia/Central Market Redevelopment Project.
MoU
He said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed by the tripartite body – the KMA, the traders and the council—and each party would be given a copy for future reference.
Under the agreement, he said, the council, under Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, would become the main fiduciary body and the guarantor.
Daasebre Osei Bonsu said the council had taken over the mediation of the impasse among the various factions—the traders, the hawkers, the GPRTU, the Agro Chemical Dealers Association, the Traditional Caterers Association and the KMA.
He said it was prudent that the matter was not pursued at the law court.
Committee
As a result, Daasebre Osei Bonsu delegated two of Otumfuo’s linguists, Baffour Osei Kwame Kantakrakyi and Nana Kwame Bonsu, to join the KMA representatives, as well as the traders to the two sites to find out the true situation on the ground and ensure that each trader was given a place to operate for the next two-and-half years.
They are expected to submit a formal report by Friday, September 12, 2015 for action.
The two linguists are also to liaise with the Chairman of the GPRTU, Mr Sampson Kwaakyi, and his offices, the military and KMA security personnel to enforce the roadmap of relocating all drivers to the Race Course and take action against recalcitrant ones.
The relocation is also to factor in the 2,284 registered hawkers, the 1,800 traditional caterers and all other affected groups.
Race course
The KMA, led by the Co-ordinating Director, Michael B. Afaogye, and the Estate Officer, Ms Juliana Nsiah, told the council that contrary to allegations made by Mr Kwabena Obeng, the Chairman of the Kejetia Traders Association that the Race Course and the Adehyeman Gardens were not ready to accommodate the displaced traders, the stalls had been ready and allocations made.
Background
Last year, Parliament approved a $298 million Brazilian loan to undertake the two-phased project at Kejetia and the Central markets. The project is to be undertaken by a Brazilian construction firm, the Contracta.
Following that, the MPs in the Ashanti Region, together with the KMA officials, toured the market to engage the traders and to assure them that they will be given the first option to own the market on competition.
The tour was followed with a durbar involving all stakeholders at the Golden Tulip Kumasi City to iron out any differences with regard to the relocation and related matters.
Registration
To allay the fears of the traders, the KMA undertook a registration of all affected traders and hawkers with the assurance that they would be the first people to own the shops when completed.
But the registration was characterised by allegations of extortion and favouritism, which sparked series of protestations from the aggrieved traders.
A number of petitions were forwarded to the then Acting Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, who began a process of engagement with all stakeholders until he was replaced with the current minister, Mr Peter Anerfi-Mensah.
Mistrust
The mistrust between the traders and the KMA deepened when allegations became rife in the media that some miscreants had taken advantage of the ongoing relocation exercise to extort money from traders at the Race Course.
But the KMA refuted the allegation and urged the traders to report such characters for action to be taken.
Recently, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda toured the region to assess the true situation on the ground before inviting President John Dramani Mahama to break the ground for work to begin.