The Kumasi Central Market (also known as Kejetia Market) is an open-air market in the city of Kumasi the capital of Ashanti. Kumasi Central Market is in the Rain Forest Bioregion of Ashanti on the Ashantiland Peninsula. Kumasi is approximately 300 miles (480Â km) north of the Equator and 100 miles (160Â km) north of the Gulf of Guinea. Kumasi is popularly known as "The Garden City" or "heart beat" of Ashanti and the Ashantiland Peninsula because of its many beautiful species of flowers and plants.
The Kejetia market is the largest single market in Kumasi, Ashanti, on the Ashantiland Peninsula, in West Africa and on Continental Africa with over 45,000 stores and stalls.
The Market
Right in the heart of Kumasi capital of Ashanti and the Ashantiland Peninsula; Kumasi Central Market is Kumasi's, Ashanti's, and Ashantiland Peninsula's, West Africa's and Continental Africa's largest open air markets. Kejetia market is bordered to the North by the Kumasi Cultural Centre and to the North West by the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). The southern part of the Kejetia market forms a border with Adum, an commercial centre of the Kumasi metropolis. Virtually everything that one wants to purchase from a market can be found at Kumasi Central Market. Kejetia market ranges from gold jewelry and diamond jewellery handcrafted by the Ashantis, food, gorgeous Ashanti kente clothing fabrics and footwear by Printex (in the center of the market), spices, grains, and toiletries. If a person is 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. Kejetia market is a great place to buy fabric such as the Ashanti people's kente clothing, and see a huge Kejetia market, full of everyday hustle and bustle.
Market management
The huge human and vehicular traffic in and around the Kejetia market makes its Ashanti Absolute Monarchy and Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly management and law enforcement very difficult. Various methods of ensuring peace and order in the area are employed include the formation of a Kumasi city guard group. The members of the group act as the Kejetia market's law enforcement authority. They handle basic traffic direction duties, anti-hawking activities, etc. However, they refer all cases that are beyond the jurisdiction to the Kejetia Police Personnel who have a station in the Kejetia market. In 2010, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) through the market managers Freko FD Ltd installed CCTV cameras around the market, with the aim of strengthening security at the station. The move was expected to clamp down on hoodlums, who ply their trade in areas including the Kumasi Central market, PZ-Adum, Zoological and its environs.
Kejetia Fires
Fire outbreaks had been the major destroyer of the Kejetia market historically. The Kejetia market has had, in the past, several outbreaks that have resulted in the destruction of stores, stalls and their wares. The destruction in most cases runs into several Ashanti Sikas (or several millions of cedis). One recent outbreak occurred on Wednesday 19 September 2001, when a blazing hail of fire gutted over 150 stores at the old Kejetia market. It took the intervention of the "Kumasi City Fire Service" National Fire and Rescue Service Firefighters, 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.
See also
- Economy of Ashanti
References
