Chief of staff at the office of the President, Akosua Osei Fremah Opare, has donated building materials worth Ghc800,000 to be used for the reconstruction of a portion of the Kumasi Racecourse market which was entirely burnt down by fire.
The gesture is part of her commitment to supporting the redevelopment of the market to provide comfort for the market fire victims to return to business as soon as possible.
A portion of Kumasi Racecourse market was on Monday 11th March 2024 burnt to ashes by unknown fire sources however, re-development has commenced through a sponsorship from the Chief of Staff Akosua Osei Fremah Opare.
Properties and goods worth millions of cedis were consumed by the fires leaving the victims in a helpless situation pushing the majority of the victims out of business.
Weeks after the unfortunate fire incident, the Chief of staff at the Jubilee house Akosua Osei Fremah Opare donated building materials worth Ghc.800, 000 for rebuilding the burnt market.
The materials donated include 60 packets of roofing sheets, galvanized poles, 6000 2/6 and 2/4 lumber, iron nails, 400 tons of chippings, iron rods, and bags of cement among others. The entire project is budgeted to cost at least 10 million old Ghana cedis.
Queen mother of the market Nana Akua Kyeiwaa and other affected traders recounted the continued support from the office of the Chief of Staff in times of difficulty and commended her for her continued support to market women in Kumasi.
“A portion of the market is burnt, victims have lost all their goods. I can’t quantify the amount but our Akosua Osei Fremah Opare felt the impact on us with panic and heavy heart rush to our aid to restore life to the burnt area. As we speak you can see to yourself re-development of the market has started. This project is costing 8 billion old cedis. There’s no way the traders could have raised this money, so we are very grateful to the Chief of staff for all this important project she is doing for us. She invited me to Accra when she heard that the market was burnt by an unknown source. She gave me GHc.50,000 to be shared with fire victims as chop money, she again brought sugar, and rice among other things to support victims who belong to the Islamic faith to support them while fasting. May the lord bless her for always being there for us’’.
The market women in appreciation of the support from the Chief of staff Akosua Osei Fremah Opare urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) members and sympathizers and the leadership of the party including the Flag bearer Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia to choose her as his running mate.
Nana Akua Kyeiwaa said “ I was very excited when I heard the nomination and subsequent confirmation of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as the running mate for the NDC. It is good because it is time for women who constitute the majority of the Ghanaian population to have fair representation in the leadership of the country. Women are brainy, women make intelligent contributions on discussion tables. So my plea is that the NPP must allow women to equally lead the party as a running mate to Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia’’ she pleaded.
Madama Akua Manu fish seller also said ” as the NPP is looking for a running mate the party should throw their weight behind the Chief of Staff, she is a very caring mother. We produce men through birth, sometimes they act without sympathy towards us women unlike we do for men. We breastfeed you men so it’s our time now. We want Fremah Opare as our running mate nothing more’’ she also retressed.
Close to 200 stalls and properties worth millions of cedis were ravaged in a fire outbreak at the Kumasi Race Course Market, one of the biggest growing satellite markets in the Ashanti Region.
The market women who were preparing to raise funds for the reconstruction of the burnt portion of the market sang with harmonic voices in appreciation to the Chief of staff Akosua Osei Fremah Opare for meeting their demands in a time of need in the market on time.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Isaac Justice Bediako
