It is a few weeks into the New Year, and traders in the Accra central business district have already began complaining over the low patronage of items by the public.
They bemoan the fact that business has even dropped lower, as they display their products for days before making some sales. Some market women told this reporter that business has not been good, as compared to the same time last year, especially traders in foodstuffs.
They complained bitterly that business had become so slow that most of their products go rotten. Miss Gifty Osei, a trader who sells stationery at the Tema Station, said she used to sell 100 copies of Christmas and other cards a day, but now she does not even sell 20 cards a day.
Meanwhile, at the Makola Market also, Mrs. Asante, a trader in cosmetics, mentioned that even the young ladies, who used to patronise her product, now complain that there is no money in the system. At the Rawlings Park, some traders also said that the demolition exercise had affected businesses, and for fear that their items would be seized and destroyed, they do not display enough to sell their items like they used to.
According to Mr. Kofi Agyemang, a shoe dealer, said the high increment in the prices of items in the various business centers, has also made business drop very low. Moreover, others also claim that some task force officials use this opportunity to extort money from them.
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