Last-minute shoppers besiege Koforidua
Preparations towards this year’s Christmas and the New Year seem to have overshadowed all other activities in the region especially in Koforidua, the regional capital.
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For the past three days, hundreds of people from all walks of life, especially from the villages, have been thronging into town in preparation for the festival.
While the villagers have been selling their farm produce and livestock such as fowls, goats and sheep to buy items such as textiles, others - mostly salaried earners - just window-shopped, hoping to purchase goods needed after collecting their monthly salaries.
Prices
On the whole, prices - apart from that of livestock - were almost the same as last year with plantain being the cheapest commodity; a bunch going for ȻGH¢3 and ȻGH¢6 instead of GH¢5 and ȻGH¢10 last year.
A full piece of locally manufactured wax print now costs between Ȼ60 and Ȼ80 just like the previous year.
Prices of livestock is as follows: fowls, between ȻGH¢12 and GH¢25; goats, ȻGH¢100 and ȻGH¢350 while a sizeable sheep, the preferred choice of the rich, is being offered for sale at GH¢600 - all of them being far higher than last year.
Influx
Last Thursday (a market day) witnessed one of the largest numbers of people in the town (which currently has a population of over 100,000).
Every part of the town was busy, and at the lorry parks, long queues were formed, with passengers - many of them students on vacation - trying to board vehicles to their various destinations.
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Also on the streets, particularly the main artery, the Asafo Adjei Street, motor vehicles and pedestrians had to struggle for space.
Such situations, which under the normal circumstances should have led to a number of motor accidents, have so far been controlled by officers and men of the MTTU detailed at vantage points by the Regional Commander, Superintendent Samuel Tetteh.
Road safety
At the same time, the Regional Manager of the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA), Mr Joseph Obosu, the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Akuriba Yaagy, and the regional officer in charge of the National Road Safety Commission have been touring the various lorry parks to ensure that the right thing is done to make the festivities accident-free.
For instance at the Koforidua and Suhum lorry parks, drivers whose vehicles were faulty were cautioned against a possible court action should they be arrested again; many of them were wearing bathroom sleepers (Charlie wote) while driving.
“We have to ensure that all the vehicles are roadworthy and that no driver wears bathroom sleepers to drive to prevent motor accident,” Mr Obosu, the regional DVLA boss, told the Daily Graphic after he had taken some of the drivers through some road safety tips.
Food joints
To make the occasion an enjoyable one especially for bachelors, visitors and families who might opt for a change of environment, food joints such as Criss Café have planned to offer 24-hour service throughout the yuletide and the New Year.
“You know a lot of the young men and even some as old as 50 are not married and we have to make the day enjoyable for them with delicious meals during the entire period of the festivities,” one of the managers of the food joints told the Daily Graphic.
Religious touch
Churches have also not been left out, with a number of them organising their pre-Christmas conventions and prayer meetings last weekend; their focus was on road safety.
At the Centre for National Culture, Koforidua, where the Apostolic Church of Ghana held its area convention, the Area Apostle, Pastor A. Ansah, asked for God’s guidance for mankind in this era of calamities, especially against motor accidents.
Similar preparations for the Christmas period have been going on in every corner of the region, especially in the big towns such as Akim Oda, Nkawkaw, Somanya, Asamankese and Anyinam which have seen their population increase because people from the surrounding villages have been coming there.