Mixed Feelings Herald Supreme Court Ruling

A section of Ghanaians have expressed mixed feelings about the outcome of the 2012 presidential election petition, with just a day to the declaration of the verdict by the Supreme Court. While some fear that there will be chaos, others manifest faith in God, as well as the court system to deliver its mandate to ensure that peace and justice prevail. Yet others have declared their confidence in the government and other stakeholders to accept the final verdict, since Ghana is all that Ghanaians have and cherish. However, players in the business sector, particularly market women and traders, have complained bitterly about the patronage of goods and services. The Market When the Daily Graphic visited the Makola Market in Accra yesterday, traders were busily wooing potential customers to purchase their wares. Some shops were fully packed with customers who were patronising goods ranging from clothing, hair products, bags, shoes to second-hand clothing, among others. The scene at the 31st December Market was not different. Customers were buying food items such as tomatoes, fish, pepper, vegetables, among others, in large quantities. However, yam sellers at the Kokomba Market could not boast such patronage and they complained about low sales. They explained that yam farmers had refused to supply them with the staple until after the Supreme Court verdict because of the fear that they might not get their money should anything happen after the verdict. Traders� remarks Hajia Ayishetu Salifu, a mattress retailer, told the Daily Graphic that the election petition had brought down sales at the market. �People stopped buying items at the market when the petition started in the courts. They only come to ask of prices and they leave,� she added. Furthermore, she said, the last days of the petition had brought challenges, adding that business had become slower, even though more people were found at the market centres. A shop assistant at a mobile phone shop, Millicent Armah, said patronage of the phones had gone down. �Customers used to buy about 30 phones a day but now that has reduced to 20 and even less,� she said. Transport Services At the Accra-Aflao Station at Tudu, drivers told the Daily Graphic that the patronage of transport services had declined for the past one week. Mr Emmanuel Letsa, a worker at the station, said some vehicles had not moved from the station for the past three days because of the lack of passengers. The secretary of the Accra-Lagos-Ibadan-Cotonou Station at Tudu did not mince words when he told the Daily Graphic that transport patronage had gone down these days. From Kumasi George Ernest Asare reports that a section of the business community in Kumasi has debunked speculations that residents of the Kumasi metropolis have resorted to panic buying of foodstuffs and other valuables in anticipation of violence after the Supreme Court ruling tomorrow. A number of traders who spoke to the Daily Graphic during a visit to their shops yesterday rather complained that business transactions had slackened since the beginning of the month. From the main Asafo Market through to the Central Market to the central business district of Adum where the Daily Graphic interacted with a number of traders, they dismissed public speculations that there had been panic buying. They also said they would open their shops on Thursday for normal business, explaining that there was nothing to fear to warrant closure of their shops. At the Asafo Market, traders who deal in vegetables and rice told the Daily Graphic that business had been normal. �We would be very happy if there was panic buying in Kumasi. This is because business would have been very brisk and we would have sold all our products to maximise our profit margins,� a 45-year-old rice dealer who identified herself as Maame Konto said. Central Market At the Kumasi Central Market, a 50-year-old woman, Auntie Comfort, also dismissed the panic buying assertion, explaining that business had been normal just like any other day. �My customers have not been regular of late and I attribute that to the fact that many of them are rather keeping their money and may troop in after the Supreme Court verdict,� she explained.