The Kumasi Central Market is currently undergoing a modernization phase in a project funded by the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) through the Government of Ghana to a total amount of £70.3 million to develop and modernize the market on the requirement that a UK-based company was awarded the contract According to the contractors, the new market will be an ultra-modern state-of-the-art structure. The re-construction of the Kumasi Central Market has come with several obstacles for traders and their respective groups with some losing capital, shop owners turning into hawkers, while others have had to move to the house for lack of funds to rent new shops after the relocation exercise. What they have not explored is online stores or marketing their wares online. Generally, traders are organized into groups led by the Queen mothers of their wares with some appointed or elected officers. The leadership manages the relationships with the Municipal, Metropolitan Assemblies, or other stakeholders. The leaders advocate for their interests during the implementation of potentially disruptive policies like market reconstructions, taxations, demarcation of spaces, or grievance handling among traders themselves. The leadership of these traders may be dominantly male or female but are mostly reinforcing gender norms of male leadership or authority. Male-dominated leadership groups include the abattoir groups, jewelers, bead makers and cosmetics association, shoe sellers, etc. Female-dominated leadership groups include the cloth sellers, vegetables and yam sellers, etc. These challenges have either been eased with the existence of a well-coordinated association or groups while others have been exposed to losses due to the absence of stronger groups or associations or whether their leaders are males or females. This chapter seeks to discuss some of the factors that led to the differences in strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the jewelers, bead makers, and cosmetics association which is led by mostly men against others like the Cloth Seller’s Association led by mostly women in the relocation efforts. The subsequent sections in this chapter adopt a direct narration approach by affected traders.

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Male and Female Leadership Dynamics in the Modernization of the Kumasi Central Market

  • Bashiratu Kamal

摘要

The Kumasi Central Market is currently undergoing a modernization phase in a project funded by the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) through the Government of Ghana to a total amount of £70.3 million to develop and modernize the market on the requirement that a UK-based company was awarded the contract According to the contractors, the new market will be an ultra-modern state-of-the-art structure. The re-construction of the Kumasi Central Market has come with several obstacles for traders and their respective groups with some losing capital, shop owners turning into hawkers, while others have had to move to the house for lack of funds to rent new shops after the relocation exercise. What they have not explored is online stores or marketing their wares online. Generally, traders are organized into groups led by the Queen mothers of their wares with some appointed or elected officers. The leadership manages the relationships with the Municipal, Metropolitan Assemblies, or other stakeholders. The leaders advocate for their interests during the implementation of potentially disruptive policies like market reconstructions, taxations, demarcation of spaces, or grievance handling among traders themselves. The leadership of these traders may be dominantly male or female but are mostly reinforcing gender norms of male leadership or authority. Male-dominated leadership groups include the abattoir groups, jewelers, bead makers and cosmetics association, shoe sellers, etc. Female-dominated leadership groups include the cloth sellers, vegetables and yam sellers, etc. These challenges have either been eased with the existence of a well-coordinated association or groups while others have been exposed to losses due to the absence of stronger groups or associations or whether their leaders are males or females. This chapter seeks to discuss some of the factors that led to the differences in strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the jewelers, bead makers, and cosmetics association which is led by mostly men against others like the Cloth Seller’s Association led by mostly women in the relocation efforts. The subsequent sections in this chapter adopt a direct narration approach by affected traders.