The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee, Okyere Baafi, has proposed wider stakeholder consultations and careful site selection as key measures to address challenges facing the government’s 24-hour market projects.
Speaking on TV3’s The Daily Brief on August 17, 2026, Baafi said the government could make better progress on the projects by working closely with traditional authorities, opinion leaders and communities before selecting sites.
He outlined three main strategies he believes could help reduce disputes and speed up implementation.
He noted that, “government must engage chiefs and traditional authorities early in the process, particularly because of the complexities surrounding land ownership in some parts of the country.”
He further warned that, proceeding without proper consultation could result in competing claims over land and delay projects.
“More means that there should be a lot of consultation.” He added.
He also said chiefs should not only be informed after decisions have been made but should be involved in determining where the markets are established.
The Ranking Member also urged the government to reconsider locations where there are existing controversies over land.
He said selecting sites with fewer ownership disputes would help prevent delays and reduce tensions between the government, traditional authorities and other landowners.
“More means that they should look for a place that has less controversy.” He said.
According to him, this approach would make it easier for construction to proceed without being disrupted by competing claims to the land.
The MP further called for opinion leaders and other community stakeholders to be brought into the process.
He argued that local leaders could help the government understand the concerns of communities and identify practical locations for the projects.
“More means that the chiefs must be involved. More means that opinion leaders must be involved.”
Okyere Baafi also cautioned the government against imposing market projects on communities without adequate engagement.
“Government must do a lot of consultations and they must not use force to set up markets because if they do that, it will create a lot of problems.” He stated.
Okyere Baafi’s comments come amid debate over the implementation of the government’s 24-hour economy policy and the separate development of 24-hour markets. He stressed that the two initiatives should not be conflated, arguing that the 24-hour market programme is specifically concerned with developing markets capable of operating around the clock.
His proposed approach is therefore centred on early consultation, careful land and site assessment, involvement of chiefs and opinion leaders, and consensus-building with affected communities before construction begins.
By Coffie Mawuedem Noel
