The Combined Kumasi Central Market Traders Union has given the government until the end of May 2026 to release funds and restart construction on the stalled second phase of the Kejetia Market Redevelopment Project, warning that failure will trigger major street protests.
Addressing journalists in Kumasi on Tuesday, April 14, the Union’s Director of Operations, Daniel Otuo Acheampong, said traders displaced since 2021 have endured years of deteriorating conditions at the Racecourse relocation site, including poor roads, inadequate lighting, weak sanitation, and persistent insecurity, all of which have eroded customer patronage.
Traders who remain at the last section of the original central market face compounding hardships. “Those who remain in the last section of the central market are contending with flooding, offensive sewage odour, and large volumes of waste from the Aboabo Lorry Station and Alabar,” Acheampong said.
The union’s frustration is sharpened by what it describes as broken political assurances. Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang had reportedly assured the union that work would resume in March 2026. The site, however, remains inactive, with sources indicating that contractors have sent workers home and expatriate staff have left the country due to uncertainty over funding.
The union attributes the continued delay to funding constraints and is calling on the government to immediately release funds from the escrow accounts of the Phase One project held at Fidelity Bank and Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank to finance resumption of work.
Beyond the resumption of construction, the traders are demanding a complete overhaul of market administration, proposing that operations be handed over to a competent private entity to improve efficiency and security. They have also formally appealed to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to intervene in the impasse.
Phase Two of the Kejetia Market Redevelopment Project was sod-cut on May 2, 2019, and is estimated to cost approximately US$248 million, financed by Deutsche Bank. Work has stalled for more than three years despite the project reaching roughly 70 percent completion. President John Mahama, during his regional thank-you tour in July 2025, had pledged to deliver the project by end-2026 and directed contractors to accelerate work. The combined cost of both phases now exceeds US$507 million, making the Kejetia redevelopment one of the largest public infrastructure investments in Ghanaian history.
The union warned that if the government fails to act by the end of May, members will proceed with a large-scale demonstration and threatened to pull down barricades and return to trading in the uncompleted facility.
