Members of the Kumasi City Market Traders Union (KCMTU) have cautioned the Combined Kejetia Traders Association to desist from portraying themselves as leaders of the entire Kejetia Market.
Describing them as hypocrites, selfish, and greedy, the KCMTU said the Combined Kejetia Traders Association leadership, after failing a credibility test, is now resorting to dubious means of damage control.
Addressing a conference in response to the recent press conference by the Combined Kejetia Traders Association, Michael Adu Gyamfi, spokesperson for the Kumasi City Market Traders Union, said the engagement is aimed at correcting the erroneous impression given to the public by the leadership of the association in a recent press communiqué.
From their exposition on some pressing issues affecting traders in the market, the Kumasi City Market Traders Union (KCMTU), which boasts over six thousand (6,000) traders in the market enclave, senses credibility paralysis.
"We want to place on record, per this announcement, that since they failed to pass the credibility test following their imposition on the traders, under no circumstances can they restore trust. The paradigm has shifted and changed. No way!"
"From their press release, the issues of our concern are as follows: first, the attack on Chairman Kwabena Ankrah and the market queens. Second, market space allocation, and third, Dr. Bawumia's donation to fire outbreak victims," they said.
Addressing the issues, the group declared and placed on record that the properly and genuinely instituted leader who commands the support of the majority of traders and all stakeholders, including market queens, is Chairman Kwabena Ankrah.
They further rejected the allegations enumerated by the estranged Combined leaders, which, according to them, sought to denigrate the credibility and qualification of Chairman Kwabena Ankrah.
"We totally describe it as senseless and unsubstantiated, and it must be treated with all the contempt it deserves. We pledge our full commitment and support to him to effect the changes we yearn for," they declared.
They also described an attack on the market queens, purporting to downplay their relevance to the market, as laughable and unjustifiable.
Members of the Combined Kejetia Traders Association, addressing a press conference, raised some concerns over issues in the market and called for the dissolution of the entire Kejetia management.
They also alleged the misappropriation of a donation made by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and Frema Opare to the Kejetia fire victims.
They also fought against the allocation of new places in the Kejetia streets for some traders.
But reacting to the issues raised, the Kumasi City Market Traders Union only sees the current U-turn made by the Combined Kejetia Traders Association as a sign of hypocrisy, selfishness, and dubiousness.