Kumba II, Meme Division:

Kosala gets new market

By Sirri NTONIFOR TANGWE in Kumba

The mayor of the Kumba II Council has inaugurated the newly constructed market at Kosala quarters. The brief ceremony took place on Thursday 1 October. Accompanying the mayor at the inauguration ceremony were some councilors of Kumba II, the former mayor and quarter heads. The DO of Kumba II was conspicuously absent at the ceremony.

                At the market, the mayor, Forcha Martin Ndobegang, addressed the traders who crowded around him for a question-and-answer session. He explained that one of the reasons for the outing was to ascertain whether the Kosala people were happy with the market so that sponsors can rest assured that it is not a superfluous project.

                Eliciting joyful shouts from the traders, Mayor Forcha announced that no one has the right to lay claim to market space by obtaining it from the officials and later renting or hiring it out to another.

                Cautioning the traders not to convert the government land into their private property, he explained that council officials will only register the names of those found actively trading in the market. One trader suggested that on the designated market days, Mondays and Thursdays, quarter heads should forbid women from going to their farms so that they feel constrained to reach the market on those days.

                The Kosala market project is a 312 million FCFA project conceived during the leadership of the previous Kumba II mayor, Asapngu Ferdinand. However, numerous administrative hurdles delayed the project. When Mayor Forcha took over office, he had to recompile the documents and restart the process until the council laid hold of the grant. Given the recent decree placing markets under the jurisdiction of the decentralized councils, this is a feather in the cap of the Kumba II council, destined to generate more revenue in addition to that from the Fiango market.

                At the moment, the market is still in its rudimentary state and is void of sheds, but the traders have set up little tables to sell their produce which mostly comes directly from their farms. Citing the Fiango market whose history was that of a graveyard  but which is today a vibrant market, Mayor Forkwa opines in optimism that if the traders play their role suitably, the Kosala market will grow from the seed it is today to a market of renown.