The January 2, 2025, Kantamanto market fire outbreak was characterized as politically driven by Ekow Vincent Assafuah, a Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development.

Based on his study, he believes the market fire was orchestrated by a polling agent for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the just concluded general elections.

Assafuah, who is also a lawyer, said on Asempa FM, which GhanaWeb listened to on Wednesday, that the suspect, Quaicoo, also known as Oboy, had left clues about the catastrophe both before and after the elections.

"My research has shown you that the people who set the market on fire did it in a way that made it extremely impossible for anyone—including members of the Fire Service—to save any of the burned stuff. I've sent the Ghana Police Service a letter already. Quaicoo (also known as Oboy) is a young man at Kantamanto. He worked for the NDC as an agent at the Odododiodoo polling station. Before and after the elections, this man gave signals and, according to what I was told, he remarked, "As for Kantamanto, we will all lose it." Among his remarks to friends and others in Kantamanto were these.

"Anyone who knows Kantamanto will tell you that these are people who live as one community. This is a man whose wife divorced him a few weeks ago, and because his wife's financial support is no longer coming, he is now being supported financially by some people at Kantamanto. However, because of politicking..." he added.

"I will not reveal the identity of the individual who provided this information in order to protect their identity," the congressman continued. A woman in Kantamanto told me that the market was on fire shortly after she saw this man walking past on Wednesday at around 11 p.m. I firmly believe that this incident was driven by politics, as evidenced by the woman's narrative and supporting statements from associates of Quaicoo, also known as Oboy.


Many stores and residences were severely damaged in the horrific fire that tore through the Kantamanto market.

Thirteen fire tenders were sent to the area, and officials of the Ghana National Fire Service were able to contain the fire, which started at around one in the morning on Thursday, January 2, 2024.

The market is shown in the footage covered in smoke, and the fire is clearly causing a lot of damage.

No casualties have been reported thus far, according to an interview with Alex King Nartey, the Ghana National Fire Service's Public Relations Officer.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, trying to identify the origin of the fire and gauge the extent of the damage.