Christmas fever grips the heart of Accra

Accra Central, the heart of Ghana’s Capital, usually records a lot of commuting, trading activities, and traffic throughout the week but this festive season has seen the unprecedented.

Every inch of space has been occupied by buyers, sellers and commuters.

The Ghana News Agency in a bid to assess its effects on business owners, traders, drivers and pedestrians, directed its focus on the Makola Market and adjourning trade hubs.

Usually, trotros could run past the UT area and the Central Police Station but this time, no vehicle could make it.

Some Circles-bound commuters had to walk all the way to Adabraka as the Kaneshie and Odorkor ones walked past the Accra Brewery.

Hawkers, petty traders, head porters, and shoppers had taken over the streets, causing drivers a lot of inconvenience, Obeng Yeboah, a taxi driver, caught in the gridlock, told the Ghana News Agency.

Kojo Amoah, another taxi driver, expressed concern about how the traffic had taken a heavy toll on his sales and fuel consumption.

“The traffic here is very disturbing! Whenever I pick up a customer, I will have to queue in traffic for more than an hour before I am able to get out of here.

Usually, because we negotiate the fare before the pickup, we are unable to charge extra otherwise, it is going to be a fight.

The street vendors also make it worse for us. Some of them get angry and insult us when we honk at them to remove their wares from the streets,” he noted.

For traders, there was a mixed reaction. Whilst others, particularly those who sold footwear and clothing, said business was pretty good, others also complained about the slow pace, particularly, after the December 7 polls.

Maame Tiwa, a middle-aged woman with two retail shops packed with women’s and children’s footwear, said business had been good, especially after the polls.

“Before the election, people were not buying so much as after the elections were completed. I have had many vendors come to buy in bulk from me. I have not increased the prices so I have made quite a lot of sales and hope to sell more so I can restock for the new year when school resumes,” she said beaming with smiles.

Madam Asantewaa, a children’s clothing and shoes vendor, who sat in the open air and displayed her wares on the payment, corroborated her story.

She also said business for her, had been so far so Good.

But shoppers such as Peace Amenyor who had travelled from Dahwenya said she did so because, prices of goods such as shoes, clothing, and certain consumables were cheaper in Makola.

“Shoes are very expensive where I live in Dahwenya so I prefer to come to Accra central to buy because there is more variety of designs, and the prices are cool.

I have been able to buy several of them for my daughter,” she said.

“I came all the way from Amasaman to Makola to shop because things are cheaper here. Though I spent much transportation, I feel it worth it,” said Kojo Nkrumah, a shopper who came along with his daughter.

Despite the worrying nature of the traffic on the narrow shoulders of the Makola market, the human traffic just like that of the vehicular one, was very intense.

A walk through the major streets that separated shops from each other was a difficult task as many traders had spread their wares on pavements and the shoulders of the roads, making the movement of humans, goods, and trucks very hectic.

In certain parts, people were seen brushing each other, robbing skin to skin, and in slow-moving queues as the pavements had been narrowed to a point where pedestrians had challenges navigating their way through.

A slight mistake could lead to a vehicle passing on one’s feet or risk falling into the many open drains partially covered by weak and broken slabs.

The tight spaces left for commuters were also full of pickpockets and other miscreants.

The level of noise that characterised the market had also intensified due to the swarms of people that had thronged to the venue to transact business.

The trend is expected to grow worse as the twenty-fifth and sixth of December wore closer.