Takoradi market rent plan draws traders' objection as minister seeks funds to finish it

Pinned summary · as of 05:30

The government is looking at a rent-based way of paying for the unfinished Takoradi Market Circle, Local Government Minister Mahama Ayariga has said after visiting the site. Traders and market women have pushed back, arguing that people cannot be asked to pay for stalls that do not yet exist.

What we know

• Mr Ayariga, the Local Government Minister, told reporters the government is studying a financing route that relies on rent from prospective occupants to restart work on the stalled Takoradi Market Circle project.
• Traders and market women have reacted with worry. Kumasi Mail quoted market women speaking to Empire FM who doubted that traders could carry such payments, and Chale News reported that displaced traders turned down the idea of paying before the market is ready.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Kumasi Mail reported that the project, valued at GH₵48 million, dates from 2021, when the previous administration began it, and has stayed unfinished since; the paper added that the present government's repeated promises have not brought work back at the pace traders hoped for. No other report has confirmed these details.
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  According to Kumasi Mail, Mr Ayariga said an enlarged market of about 4,000 stalls is under consideration. He described the original design as offering more than 4,000 spaces, cut to about 2,700 when money ran short, with the foundation already laid for the larger size. Only this publication carried these figures.
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  Kumasi Mail said the minister told of contractors' advice that enlarging the market would be cheaper, since the foundation and roofing are done and only the middle section remains. This has not been confirmed by other reports.
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  Kumasi Mail reported that Mr Ayariga will first talk to the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly as well as the builders, and afterwards return to the Ministry of Finance to decide how would-be stall holders will be made to pay.
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  Chale News reported that Mr Ayariga described banks collecting rent from would-be occupants and passing the money to the contractor to finish outstanding work. The Ghana News Agency was cited as the source of the report on his visit. Other reports have not confirmed the banking arrangement.
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  Lamisi Adam, who convenes the Concerned Takoradi New Market Traders group, told Chale News that the plan would weigh too heavily on traders, who already find it hard to sell at the new location. He said they could not raise rent for a store still under construction, and would pay only once the market is finished and certified fit for use.
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  Mr Adam also raised questions about money collected from traders at the time of their move away from the former market, saying nobody explained to them what became of it. This is his claim alone, and no response from any authority was reported.
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  Mr Adam urged the government to find other, more sustainable financing for the remaining construction and to set up a stronger mechanism that would bring contractors back to the site, according to Chale News.
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  Chale News said no firm date has been given for completing construction or for starting the proposed rent scheme. It also recalled earlier protests in red by traders over losses, debts and stress linked to the delays, citing earlier coverage by the Ghana News Agency and MyJoyOnline.

Why it matters for Ghana

Hundreds of traders in Takoradi have been waiting for a finished market, and many say the delay has cost them income and left them in debt. Any plan that asks them to pay before they can trade would shape whether they can return to a proper stall. It also raises the question of how public markets in Ghana are paid for when government budgets are stretched.