Traders storm KMA over 100% market toll hike

Scores of traders at the Kumasi Central Market on Friday, 27 October 2017 stormed the premises of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to protest against an increase in the market toll.

The traders say they were previously paying GHS1 but the authority of the assembly has now increased it by 100 per cent.

"We trade at Nkyensin Lane; we were paying 50p a day [for market toll] and when this government came, it increased to GHS1 but we agreed to pay. They came later to tell us that we should now pay GHS2. We won't pay, that is why we have come here," a trader told Adehye FM's Elisha Adarkwah.

The trader alleged that the increase had affected only traders at the Nkyensin Lane.

The women further said they are being laughed at by their colleagues in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for voting for the New Patriotic Party.

"We voted for NPP, but for now, we are being laughed at by the NDC for voting for this government because we wanted free education. We won't sit for them to laugh at us. Nana Akufo-Addo should do something about this. We pay watchman fee, we pay internal revenue, so, we can't pay GHS2 every day," another trader bemoaned.

In a related development, some traders at the Nkyensin Lane on Thursday had their stores locked up by KMA revenue collectors for their decision not to pay the new market toll.

The traders are demanding that the assembly reverts to the previous market toll to relieve them of hardships.