The Kumasi Traders Association has issued a warning to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, signaling potential electoral repercussions if abandoned markets across the Ashanti Region remain neglected.

In a unified declaration made public on Monday, May 6, 2024, prominent associations such as the Second-hand Cloth Sellers Association, Santasi Traders Union, Suame Magazine Workers Union, Mamponteng Traders Association, Central Market Traders Association, and the Kumasi Lotto Sellers Association voiced their discontent with the government's handling of market projects.

The traders, in a statement issued on Monday, May 6, 2024, voiced their concerns regarding the challenges they face in conducting business at their current locations.

According to them, there are currently four markets left abandoned: “Krofrom Market, Mamponteng Market, Santasi Market, and Phase Two of the Kejetia Market.”

The traders stressed, “Our livelihoods are greatly affected by adverse weather conditions; each rainfall turns our marketplaces into muddy quagmires, while the scorching sun blankets the area in dust, making it difficult for us to operate effectively.”

The traders also expressed disappointment over the lack of progress on the projects in the region, deemed as the stronghold of the governing NPP.

They appealed to the Asantehene to intervene in the situation.

They also emphasized that if their demand does not yield any result, the Asanteman Youth Union will join “the five-day demonstration by our brothers and sisters of the Central Market and second-hand cloth sellers to demonstrate against the government.”

They urged the “contractor company to remove all the barricades from the Kejetia second phase projects before we do it ourselves because we will not hesitate to take them off to do our businesses there if our demands are not heard.”