Traders at the Racecourse Market in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, are saying they will not allow the New Patriotic Party to take them for granted anymore.
The market women say they have always voted for the NPP but cannot boast of any intervention by the government to bolster their business, complaining of the deplorable nature of their markets.
According to the women, the government has abandoned several projects in the city including the Krofrom and Central markets, the Suame Interchange.
At a press conference Monday, July 15, 2024, the women said they were aware government would deploy machines to the cites pending the upcoming election, a trick they have grown beyond.
“The Krofrom market has been dejected, same as the Central market and the Suame Roundabout. They told us they were going to do an interchange but they didn’t do it. But they will pretend to be working on these projects by sending machines there because it is election.
“They are taking us for a ride and we are no more going to allow anyone to defraud us anymore. If we were ignorant at the time, now we have wised up and become vigilant,” Christabel Amoah, spokesperson for the group said on its behalf.
They also called on the electorates in the region to vote against the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) despite the appointment of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as running mate to its flag bearer.
According to them, they will not vote for the NPP based on the tribe of the flag bearer’s running mate.
They said they will consider someone who has their interest at heart rather than NAPO who has been their MP for almost two decades and refused to complete the Krofrom market for them.
“We don’t have a proper place to use as our market. We live in water. Racecourse has been deserted. We stay under the sun from morning till dusk for our daily bread. Sometimes we are overrun by vehicles and some even lose their lives through it.
“NAPO has been MP for 16 years and the abandoned Krofrom market is in his constituency so we expected him to fix it so we could use it but he didn’t. And we don’t expect him to address our problems at this juncture when he has been appointed as running mate.
“A lot have happened in our market including fire outbreaks but there has not been a single instance where he has come to us to share in our problems to help solve them,” she stated.
“If Bawumia thinks we will vote for him because is from the Ashanti Region, then he should forget about it. We are no more going to vote based on where we come from but rather who can bring development to Asanteman,” she avowed.
