[ 2015-03-26 ]

Kumasi Traders Curse Mayor
The traders marching though the streets of Kumasi,
INSET:A woman carrying a bottle of Schnapps which
she used to curse Kojo Bonsu.

Scores of angry-looking traders at the Kumasi
Kejetia Bus Terminal caused a stir yesterday when
they openly used eggs and Schnapps to invoke
curses on Kojo Bonsu, the Kumasi Mayor, who they
accused of adopting oppressive means to deny them
of their sources of livelihood.

The traders, who were demonstrating, described
Kojo Bonsu as very “wicked” and
“insensitive” to their plight, vowing to do
everything within their power to resist any
attempt by the KMA to eject them from the Kejetia
Bus Terminal for the proposed reconstruction works
to take place.

Some of the agitated female traders even attempted
to carry out their infamous threat of stripping
naked in public, especially when the protestors
reached the KMA premises, but their leadership
acted swiftly to prevent them from going nude.

A trader with eggs to curse Kojo Bonsu
A trader with eggs to curse Kojo Bonsu

The announcement that some of the female traders
had planned to strip themselves naked attracted
scores of curious people, mostly men, to the city
center where the protestors marched, but they were
left disappointed at the eleventh-hour as the
women were prevented from doing so.

Organized by the Kejetia Traders Association (KTA)
the protestors, wearing red dresses and singing
war songs to openly display their anger, marched
through the principal streets of Kumasi.

Shops Closed

The traders virtually declared yesterday a holiday
as they closed their shops and hit the streets in
their numbers. All driver unions operating at the
Kejetia Bus Terminal also grounded their vehicles
to join the demonstration, causing severe problems
for travelers.

Traffic

The number of the demonstrators was so huge that
their presence in the streets caused severe
vehicular traffic, especially at Adum, the Central
Business District (CBD) of the city. Heavily armed
policemen followed them to make sure that the
protest march was peaceful.

Placards

The protestors carried placards with inscriptions
such as ‘Kojo 419,’ ‘Kojo Bonsu is a
criminal,’ ‘Tweaa Kojo Bonsu,’ ‘Kojo Bonsu
is a gay,’ ‘Kojo Bonsu is a terrorist,’
‘Welcome Brazil Burger,’ ‘Brazil Akwantuo
Part 1 and 2,’ ‘Kojo Bonsu your days are
numbered,’ and ‘Otumfuo come and save us.’

The traders became more incensed when they reached
the KMA premises at Adum with some of them trying
to get access to the facility and perhaps cause
destruction but they were prevented by the armed
policemen who had barricaded the facility.

From the KMA, the traders marched to the Regional
Coordinating Council (RCC) where they handed their
petition to the acting Ashanti Regional Minister
Eric Opoku, who was accompanied by some top party
officials, including Francis Dodovi.

curse

Andrew Kwofie, PRO of the traders, who read the
petition, said the two-month period given by the
KMA for the traders to leave Kejetia was too short
and unacceptable adding, “This action is
unreasonable, insensitive, oppressive and unjust
towards our rights and welfare as traders.”

According to him, to the best of the knowledge of
the traders, the Kumasi Central Market was
originally earmarked for reconstruction to stop
the frequent fire outbreaks at the place, saying
that Kojo Bonsu’s strange decision to
reconstruct the Kejetia Bus Terminal instead was
unacceptable.

He accused Kojo Bonsu of not being transparent
with regards to the reconstruction of the
terminal, full of inconsistencies in his dealings
with the traders and also lying that the KMA had
made plans to properly relocate them “which is
false.”

curse2

Kwofie also lambasted Kojo Bonsu over his recent
trip to Brazil in the company of his cohorts in
connection with the proposed project noting,
“Strangely, as beneficiaries of the said
project, none of our leadership was part of the
Brazil trip.”

Mr Eric Opoku commended the traders for adopting
peaceful and democratic means to drum home their
grievances, assuring that he would peruse their
petition and work to address the pressing concerns
that they had raised.

Source - Daily Guide

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