No market, no vote - Krofrom residents threaten to boycott 2024 elections

Some residents of Krofrom in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region have threatened to boycott the 2024 December 7 elections in the region.

The residents, who claim to be members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), said they will not cast their votes in the upcoming elections because the government has failed to complete the Krofuom Market project.

In an interview with OTEC News reporters Juliet Tetteh and Nancy Boamaah on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the residents said both the previous and current governments have been deceiving them with promises they failed to fulfill.

Traders and residents near the abandoned project expressed frustration over the prolonged period of abandonment, which affects commercial activities in the region.

Akosua, a resident of Krofuom, revealed that hundreds of traders who were displaced during the supposed construction struggled to recover their livelihoods.

“I used to sell here before we were painfully evicted over a decade ago. They promised to complete the project within 8 months, but it’s been years already, and it remains abandoned

"I have personally decided not to vote in this year's elections because of this project, and I can assure you that hundreds of residents share the same sentiments," she said.

Opanin Yeboah, who claimed to be a card-bearing member of the NPP, attacked the party for failing to complete the project.

He said he would boycott this year's elections together with his family in protest against his party.

Initiated in 2008 by former President John Agyekum Kufuor, the Krofrom Market Project has languished in neglect, with successive governments failing to fulfil promises for its completion.

The facility, comprising over two thousand stores, has remained uncompleted for 15 years, hampering trade and commercial activities. Its completion is crucial for alleviating congestion in Kumasi’s central business district.

The market area, now overrun by weeds, serves as a refuge for suspected criminals and drug addicts.