Akyem Oda Central Market gutted by fire

The central market at Akyem Oda Central Market in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region has been burnt to ashes following a fire on Monday evening.

Various reports say while the fire started around 8 pm on the evening of September 13, it was only extinguished around 2 am on September 14.

Multiple stalls and properties have been destroyed but there has not been word on the cost of damage to properties. No casualties have been reported yet too.

Officials of the Akyem Oda Fire Station have also not issued a response to their alleged lateness to the scene of the inferno.

Fires in markets have become a familiar occurrence to Ghanaians over the last few years. This has prompted suspicions ranging from political sabotage to congestion and poor electrical management.

In July, fire swept through a shop complex at the Makola market and even reignited after 24 hours.

The fire, according to eyewitnesses, was caused by a faulty generator that had been turned on.

24-hours after firefighters tried to douse the inferno, it reignited as shop owners were asked to salvage their wares.

Rolls of fabrics, boxes of sanitary products, and other combustible materials are among the goods that have been moved from the basement of the shop complex.

In April too, the fire that gutted parts of the Kumasi Central Market was attributed to illegal electrical wiring in the affected shops.

Over 30 shops were razed when a section of the market caught fire on Sunday, April 18. The affected area was dominated by persons who trade in leather materials.

Properties worth thousands of cedis were destroyed by the fire.

In the Eastern Region in December 2020 and not more than a two-hour journey from the Akyem Oda Market fire, shops at the Koforidua Central were destroyed by fire.

The fire was reportedly caused by an electrical fault on the main power supply pole of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) which spread to the nearby shops.

In that same month, 41-year-old Daniel Dah Kormlah was arrested by the police for his alleged role in the burning of markets in Ghana.

The suspect was picked up by a joint team of police and intelligence operatives. He was arrested in Ho in the Volta Region.

Kormlah’s case is still pending.