Oseadieyo Dr Frimpong Manso delivering his address at the emergency meeting

Kotoku Omanhene halts market store allocation

Samuel Kyei-Boateng Dec - 24 - 2024 , 09:57 2 minutes read

The Omanhene of Akyem Kotoku State, Oseadieyo Dr Frimpong Manso IV has halted the allocation of stores and stalls at the three major markets at Oda constructed recently by the current government.

They are the reconstructed Oda Central Market, which was destroyed by fire in 2021, the market at Nkwantanum, a suburb of Oda, and the one at the Kumasi lorry park at Oda.

The central market was inaugurated last month by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and financed by the District Assemblies Common Fund while the other two were funded by the World Bank.

The Omanhene announced the suspension of the market stores allocation at an emergency meeting with the stakeholders of the markets, who were the executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), core staff of the Birim Central Municipal Assembly, representatives of market women and some traditional rulers, at his palace in Oda last Friday.

He said his action followed rumours that officials of the assembly and some political leaders were allocating the market stores to themselves and their cronies.

Inventory

Oseadieyo Frimpong Manso ordered the assembly to furnish him with the inventory of the original owners/occupants of the reconstructed central market stores before the market was destroyed by fire in September 2021.

He set up a committee comprising representatives of the NPP, the NDC, the core staff of the assembly, the presiding member of the assembly, three chiefs and some market women, to investigate the authenticity of the rumours and submit a report to him by the end of the month.

Speaking to the media later, the Birim Central Municipal Coordinating Director, Haruna Amadu Zure, said the assembly had not allocated any of the market stores at the Oda Central Market to anybody, saying it was falsely being circulated by their detractors.

He stressed that what the assembly was doing currently with the National Investigation Bureau was validation to ensure that the actual owners/occupants of the market stores and stalls benefited from the facilities before new applicants were considered.