Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region.
It is located in the Rain Forest Region about 250 kilometres
(160 mi) (by road) northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately
300 miles (480 km) north of the Equator and 100 miles (160 km)
north of the Gulf of Guinea. It is popularly known as "The
Garden City" or "heart beat" of Ghana because of its many
beautiful species of flowers and plants.
The Kejetia market is
the largest single market in West Africa with over 10,000 stores
and stalls.
Kejetia is West Africa's largest open air market right in the
heart of Ashanti Kumasi. It is bordered to the North by the
Kumasi Cultural Centre and to the North West by the Komfo Anokye
Teaching Hospital. The southern part of the market forms a
border with Adum, the commercial centre of the city. Virtually
everything that one wants to purchased from a market can be
found at Kejetia. From jewlery, food, toiletries, to gorgeous
fabrics (in the center market!) spices, and grains. If you are
traveling with someone, it is necessary to stay close since it
is very easy to lose one another and pretty easy to lose your
way. This is a great place to buy fabric, and see a HUGE market,
full of everday hustle and bustle.
The huge human and vehicular traffic in and around the market
makes its management and law enforcement very difficult. Various
methods of ensuring peace and order in the area are employed
include the formation of a city guard group. The members of the
group act as the market's law enforcement authority. They handle
basic traffic direction duties, anti-hawking activities etc they
however, refer all cases that are beyond the jurisdiction to the
Kejetia Police Personnel who have an station in the market. In
2010, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly through the market
managers FREKO FD installed CCTV cameras around the marke with the aim of strengthening security at the station. The move
wass expected to clamp down on hoodlums, who ply their trade in
areas including the Kumasi Central market, PZ-Adum, Zoological
and its environs.
Like all big markets in Ghana such as Takoradi Market Circle and Cape Coast's Kotokoraba
Market, fire outbreaks
continue be the major destroyer of the Kejetia market. The
market has had, in the past, several outbreaks that have
resulted in the destruction of stores, stalls and thier wares.
The destruction in most cases run into several millions of cedis.
One recent outbreak occured on Wednesday, 19th September, 2001 when a blazing hail of fire gutted the over 150 stores
at Kejetia. It took the intervention of the Kumasi City Fire
Service, to fight the fire from engulfing or spreading to other
stores. The cost of items destroyed was not readily assessed.
The cause was attributed to the illegal electrical connections
performed by workers of a private developer.
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