Market Fires: President Mahama Commiserates with Kantamanto Traders

Accra: Following the fire outbreak that ravaged the Kantamanto Market in Accra on January 2, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama has commiserated with the traders, assuring them of government's support to recover from their losses. Interacting with the affected traders at the Accra International Conference Centre on Monday, the President expressed concern over their plight and directed his Chief of Staff to meet with them to find out the immediate assistance possible.According to Ghana News Agency, the Kantamanto Market is an important trading hub in Ghana, supplying goods and services to the greater parts of the country. 'And so when we heard the news, it came as quite a shock because the country was in the mood for the inauguration and everything was going well,' the President said. 'For something like this to happen, it really saddened all of us. The loss of capital, the loss of goods have been very heavy.'President Mahama said due to the gravity of the fire, he asked Vice President Prof Naana Jane Opo ku-Agyemang to pay a visit to the site to sympathise with the traders, listen to their concerns, and chart the way forward. 'One of the first things we need to do is to prevent these fire outbreaks from happening. In some cases it might be due to wrong wiring or use of inferior materials,' he said. 'But in some cases, we can't rule out what we call arson; that is people deliberately setting fire in order to cause distraction.'