The Central Business District (CBD) of Accra is under siege as hundreds of shoppers make last-minute efforts to buy items for the Christmas season.
As a result, pedestrians, motorists, shoppers, traders and hawkers, as usual, are caught in heavy traffic.
Roads leading to the CBD are clogged with vehicular and human traffic. For instance, traffic thickens from Achimota through the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to Accra and from the Mallam Junction through to Kaneshie to Accra and also from Adenta through the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to the 37 Military Hospital to Accra.
However, despite the number of shoppers in town and the chaotic scenes, traders are complaining about low sales due to increases in the prices of items.
The Daily Graphic visited the CBD to find out how business was being conducted and how people were also shopping for the Yuletide.
Among the goods in high demand were food items such as rice, oil and confectioneries. Also in high demand were clothes, especially children’s wear, and shoes.
During interactions with some of the traders, they claimed that their sales were not encouraging, and that last year’s were better than this year’s.
The traders attributed the low sales to increases in the prices of goods.
“The market was far better last year; at least we had people coming in and out but as for this year, the prices are too high so they only come and ask the prices and go away, lamenting that they are too expensive,” Bernard Addo, a trader, said.
Emelia Magyama, a rice and oil trader, said although people trooped into her shop to ask for the prices of the goods, they hardly bought any items.
Another trader in utensils, Veronica Benson, said, “You can see from people’s facial expression that they want to buy but because there is no money in the system, they turn away because they see the goods to be expensive.”
“We cannot complain much, although business is very bad; I am really grateful to God for His grace and for the life He has given me throughout the year. We pray that things get better,” Mary Appiah-Danquah, a cassava seller, said.
Shoppers who spoke to the Daily Graphic could not stop lamenting about the increases in the prices of goods during the festive season.
“I only came to buy tomatoes for GH¢8 last week and today they are selling it for GH¢15, which I think is outrageous,” Belinda Esson said.
Another shopper who was spotted standing by children’s wear, Vivian Afun, said, “I have three children and I need to get them their Christmas clothes and shoes but from the prices they are quoting, I have to go back and come later.”
Tamale
Although Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, is predominantly a Muslim area, non-Muslim residents are preparing feverishly towards the Christmas holidays.
There has been an increase in business activities in the central business district of the metropolis, reports Samuel Duodu.
The metropolis, which is fast growing into a cosmopolitan area, has, in recent times, seen Muslims, Christians and practitioners of traditional religion living peacefully. There are announcements of activities on local radio stations, ranging from church to secular activities.
Some traders who spoke to this reporter said sales had been slow, compared to the previous year’s, and attributed the low patronage to the current economic situation in the country.
Some of the traders said they were banking their hopes on last-minute sales today, since majority of the people preferred buying on the eve of Christmas.
Those who are having a field day are livestock dealers, especially those who deal in goats and guinea fowls, as some of them said they had witnessed a sharp increase in sales. Some dealers in kids clothing and shoes, confectioneries and soft drinks also said they were making profit.
The price of a goat and guinea fowl, depending on the size, ranges between GHc100 and GHc20 respectively.
The various banking halls, especially that of GCB and the ADB were choked with customers who were there to withdraw money to shop for the Christmas, with some of them attributing the congestion in the banking halls to the delay in the payment of their salaries.
There were also long queues in front of the ATMs of the various banks in the metropolis and some of the people in the queue said that they were there to withdraw money to shop for the Christmas holidays.
A visit by this reporter to the various bus terminals in the metropolis, especially the STC and VVIP yard saw people who were waiting to board buses to Accra and Kumasi to spend the Christmas holidays with their families.
Cape Coast
Shirley Asiedu-Addo reports that the commercial streets and roads that lead to the Kotokuraba Market in Cape Coast were choked with traffic.
Around the Kingsway/Melcom area, shoppers could be seen loading purchased items into taxis.
Also, items that would be used for the Christmas season, including all kinds of soft drinks, have flooded the market.
Ho
Although Christmas is just a few days away, there is no euphoria as the principal streets remain empty, like they are on ordinary days. Traffic was not as heavy as is seen in the cities during the Christmas festivities, reports Mary Anane.
People were seen going about their usual duties as if they were not aware of the approach of Christmas.
Activities at important areas such as the Ho Central Market, Melcom, the banks and shopping centres remained the same.
When Daily Graphic toured those areas at about 9:00am to ascertain how people were preparing for the Christmas festivities, there were no significant trading activities going on.
Even in the market, very few buyers were seen around bargaining for certain items, with most of the traders sitting idle.
Some of the traders in an interview lamented that business was still slow though it was just a day to Christmas. They attributed it to the fact that there was no money in the system and also workers’ claim that they had not been paid.
According to them, sales was better last year, compared to this year. They were, therefore, worried since they could not tell if they could sell their wares, especially the perishable ones, before the celebration.
Bolgatanga
Vincent Amenuveve reports that the euphoria that usually characterises preparations towards Christmas is seemingly absent in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
This is because a significant number of public sector workers who form majority of the youthful segment of residents in the Upper East Region were for the past four days spotted travelling to their respective hometowns for the Christmas holidays.
The busiest part of the city was the various lorry stations where scores of residents were seen boarding buses to the southern part of the country.
However, some traders complained of “dull business transactions” which they also attributed to the financial challenges facing the people.
A few shops on the commercial street, such as Melcom, have displayed some Christmas trees and other seasonal paraphernalia for prospective buyers.
