Nana Barima Osei Hwedie II (middle) with GNFS officials and market women
The Ejura Traditional Council in the Ashanti Region has threatened to take over the Ejura main market due to the inability of the Ejura Municipal Assembly to manage the market.
Speaking to the media over the weekend, the Ejurahene, Nana Barima Osei Hwedie II, said it has become necessary for the Council to take that drastic decision because from all indications, the Municipal Assembly has lost control of the market, thereby leading to the decline of patronage of the market.
Nana Barima said Internally Generated Funds (IDF) accruing from taxes collected from the market continues to be siphoned to private pockets instead of channeling it to the development of the municipality.
According to Nana Barima, very soon the Traditional Council will follow the legal procedure through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to take over the management of the market for the benefit of the people of Ejura, and avoid the situation where monies collected from the market end up in private pockets.
To this end, the Ejurahene has charged the Municipal Security Committee (MUSEC) of Ejura Municipal Assembly to see to the operation of the market until the necessary procedure is completed for the total takeover of the market.
What has led to this threat, according to Nana Barima, was the recent fire outbreak at the market which caused the loss of goods costing millions of Ghana Cedis. According to the chief, what is more heartbreaking is that when the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) was called to the scene, they had no fuel, and when the GNFS contacted the Municipal Assembly, the management of the assembly informed them that they had no money to fuel the fire tender. As a result, the market was allowed to burn down. This, Nana Barima said, is not acceptable and the only way out is to seize the market from the Municipal Assembly for better management.
Nana Barima Osei Hwedie II told the media that when this came to his notice, he summoned the Municipal Chief Executive, Dr. Kingsley Osei and the Municipal Coordinating Director to his palace to explain why the assembly could not fuel the fire tender.
According to the chief, the MCE admitted that, the assembly could not fuel the fire tender because revenue from the market has been leaking into the pockets of some workers, hence the assembly’s inability to get funds to manage its affairs.
In an interview with a cross section of the people of Ejura, they seemed to agree with the decision of the Traditional Council, and appealed to the Ejurahene to expedite action to acquire the market for the Traditional Council to manage.
FROM Eric Bawah, Ejura