In Kumasi, old Oshodi thrives
As 37-year old Bright Mensah drove slowly into the heart of Kumasi Central Market, he hooted repeatedly to secure a passage for his 22-seater bus. Yet, that yielded little or no success. For the hundreds of traders and their customers who have since besieged the main access road Mensah and other drivers are trying to […]
As 37-year old Bright Mensah drove slowly into the heart of Kumasi Central Market, he hooted repeatedly to secure a passage for his 22-seater bus. Yet, that yielded little or no success. For the hundreds of traders and their customers who have since besieged the main access road Mensah and other drivers are trying to wade through, nothing else matters when trading activities are in full gear.
Understanding the fruitlessness of his effort , Mensah resigned himself to fate. And like every other vehicle ahead of and behind his, no other option remained attractive to beat the traffic quagmire than following through a single functional lane, since the other two lanes, at that section of the road, swarmed with human activities.
What ordinarily could have been a five-minute drive, ended up taking 45-minutes for Mensah to successfully navigate and eventually pull up at Pampazo – a terminal for all commercial vehicles commuting to and from Kumasi Central Market.
From the rail line to PZ-Adum, Pampazo to Ashanti Zoological Garden end and Kujetia, every section of the sprawling Kumasi Central Market is one big disorderly and haphazard enclave, which compares only to the old Oshodi market in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.
Like the old Oshodi market, traders at the Kumasi Central Market ply their wares unrestrained on the major access road that connects it with the city. The traders occupy both sections of the road, as well as the median and the walkways. The trading aides for the open display of wares were nylons, sacks and wooden tables that were serving as platforms, while thousands of umbrellas and makeshift tents provided shelters.
The rail line that extended through the market was also besieged. One can hardly identify traders and customers’ encroachment until when standing on the rail line itself. Some of the traders who spoke with Daily Trust correspondent however confirmed that rail transport within Kumasi has been moribund for some time, making it easier for them to trade on the very line itself.
“Well, the train has not been functioning for some years now. Maybe if it has been, we won’t be trading here,” Ezekiel Ayew, a second-hand cloth merchant said with a smile. “Although, you may say we are not organized, yet I can tell you that the diversity you see around here is one of the things that makes our market unique. What you called haphazard is an identity some of us who have known this market since we were born, are very proud of. For us, if it is not Kumasi Central Market, it can’t be anything else.”
Reputed as one of the biggest open markets in West Africa, like the old Oshodi, the central market attracts people from far and wide. Its location is within the heart of Kumasi – Ghana’s second notable city and the headquarters of the famous Ashanti tribe. For the indigenous people, the market is one remarkable legacy and sophistication that Ashanti culture and tradition, exudes.
Of significance to many is the purpose the market serves. Recognised largely as the bastion of consumer goods and services, products being marketed and sold within the market comprise of both local and foreign sourced wares. Agricultural produce such as yams, potatoes, vegetables, roasted and fresh fishes, pepper, tomatoes, among others are common local items that could be found in the nooks and crannies of the market.
Imported goods that range from cloths to shoes, mobile phones, household electronic gadgets that include television and radio set, refrigerators, fans, furniture, among others, have significant presence in different sections of the market as well.
“We used to joke that whatever you can’t find in Kumasi Central Market, it is probably not in existence anywhere else,” Joseph Asiedu, a mobile phone sales agent said. “We have in abundance here virtually everything any average human being may desire. And that is the reason you will find here, traders from neighbouring countries, coming around to buy items they can’t get easily in their countries.”
According to Asiedu, notable among products that are usually in high demand especially from foreign traders are the popular local Ankara fabrics, bracelets and hide and skin products that include shoes and bags. He said beyond their relative affordability, many of those who source goods from the market are also attracted to the qualities in their productions.
Indeed, the haphazard nature of Kumasi Central Market’s composition has come with steep prices. Aside its porosity that has largely emboldened criminal elements to rob people of their belongings at will; traders recapped gory incidences of fire outbreaks that crippled businesses on numerous occasions.
“As a long-time trader in this market, I can say the biggest problem we have been facing here is incessant outbreak of fire,” Bridget Konadu, a merchant of second-hand shoes and bags at the rail line said. According to Konadu, the market has witnessed more than eight fire outbreaks between 2014 and now. “Between 2014 and 2015, we had five outbreaks of fire incidences. And this year alone, the market has recorded three cases of inferno with that of January 2016 being one of the biggest. More than 40 makeshift buildings being inhabited by prostitutes were consumed.”
Konadu who spoke through an interpreter lamented that it may be too difficult for her to place a specific monetary value on the total number of goods and assets consumed by incessant fire outbreaks.
“All I can tell you is that we have suffered a lot. Many of us who used to sell in decent shops before now have been forced to come to this side and be selling in the open. My stall was among those consumed in 2014. And it was not only me, many of my friends also lost properties worth millions of cedis,” she said.
The recurrent fire disasters, the traders said, have pricked the conscience of the market’s management. The management of Kumasi Central Market is under the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), a city-wide authority that functions in collaboration with Ashanti Absolute Monarchy.
In what could pass as the most audacious management effort to re-write the market’s fortune, a contract was awarded to a Brazilian firm, Contracta Engenharia Limited in February 2015, to build a newly magnificent Kumasi Central Market Complex with 45,000 shops. The project is expected to gulp a whopping $298 million.
Though, our correspondent was unable to get any of the City’s management official to confirm the development, information made available by a local news outlet, skyscrappercity.com shows that the construction of the modern market will be in two phases – with the first phase gulping $198 million, while the sum of $100 million will be expended on the second and third phases. The project is also expected to include what will be known as Kejetia Lorry terminal in Kumasi.
At the site of the new market, Daily Trust observed that massive construction works were on-going with local and foreign staff of the contracting firm, doing their bit.
“But we have our concerns about the on-going work,” Asiedu, the mobile phone sales agent said. “Apart from the delay that has so far characterized the project, to the point that it is not certain that the February 2017 completion date set for it would be met, many of us who are not big traders are afraid that we won’t be able to secure a space in the market.”
Like Asiedu, like Konadu. The mother of three said except the city authority finds a way to subsidize the cost of rentage at the new market, she doesn’t see any of her peers who engage in petty trading having the wherewithal to secure a space. She added that many of them will rather prefer selling their wares by the roadside until they can make a financial breakthrough.
“The idea behind the modern market is good but except we are put into consideration, some of us may not be part of it,” Konadu said. The traders said they look forward to 2017, when the modern market would be completed and its doors open to trade. But whether it would inhabit them or not is what they do not know.