Tension is rising at Kejetia Market in the Ashanti Region over a missing donation of 200,000 Ghana cedis from Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to fire victims.

According to traders, the Vice President donated GHC 200,000 during his recent tour of the region, but they have yet to receive the money.

Instead, some queen mothers allegedly seized the money, claiming it was given to them as a token to share.

However, the traders suspect that the queen mothers have kept the money for themselves.

The General Secretary for the Combined Kejetia Traders Association, Reuben Amey, addressed the media on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, revealing that the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare, intervened and donated GHC 300,000 to the traders after they planned a massive demonstration.

However, the traders claim that the market management has refused to hand over the additional GHC 300,000 to the fire victims, attempting to swindle the money once again.

The leader of the Kejetia fire victims, Nathaniel Boampondem, expressed disappointment and called on authorities, particularly the NPP leadership, to act swiftly to avoid chaos at the market.

The traders are demanding that the authorities ensure the fire victims receive the money, and they have threatened to take action if the issue is not resolved promptly.

Background:

On March 15, 2023, there was a fire outbreak at a section of the Kejetia Market that left many victims distressed.

The fire also destroyed properties worth millions of cedis.

The fire incident is one of over nine hundred cases recorded in the region from the beginning of the year to December 10, 2023.

The figure represents a 13.42% reduction in the number of cases (1,058) recorded during the same period in 2022.

Nine fatalities were recorded from these cases, a reduction from the 15 lives lost in 2022.

The estimated cost of damaged property also shot up astronomically in the year, although a significant cost of salvaging property was made.

“Approximately GHC 226,701,206.00 were lost as a result of these fire cases. Although there were losses, we managed to salvage over GHC 370 million worth of properties as compared to the more than GHC 340 million recorded last year,” he said.