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Market queens tasked to lead fight against domestic violence
• Madam Malonin Asibi (right with mic) swearing in the committees
Market queens and leaders in big markets in Ghana have been tasked to lead the fight against of domestic violence and related family abuses.
This is because most of the markets in the country have large population mostly made up of women and some of the abuses take place there, as children visit their mothers after school hours.
A director at the Domestic Violence Secretariat of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), Madam Malonin Asibi said this at the inauguration of the market queens in Western Region after training them to solve minor domestic violence cases.
She said family problems were everywhere and the ministry did not want these problems to generate into major ones which might cause children to be on the streets and eventually lead them to be armed robbers or other hardened criminals.
Malonin Asibi noted that the market queens and other opinion leaders commanded respect at the various markets and, therefore, urged women with domestic violence problems to contact these committees to address their issues.
She explained that in a previous experiment conducted at six markets in Accra the committees performed creditably hence the decision by the Ministry to extend the advocacy training to Takoradi, Sekondi, Kojokrom, Apremdo and Jubilee Park Markets, all in the Western Region.
The Western Regional Director of the Ghana Legal Aid, Mrs. Sweetie Sowah said her outfit provided legal aid for those who could not afford a lawyer at the Law Courts.
She urged the women to approach her for amicable solution of their family problems because it was the best place for problem solving instead of going to the courts which delayed proceedings.
The Kojokrom Market Queen, Nana Grace Essandoh said the training was an eye opener and had empowered women to report cases of abuse and fight for their rights.
Mama Esssandoh advised all the traders at the various markets to approach the committees with any domestic violence issue for amicable solution adding “we will not favour women because we are women, be sure you have not abused your husbands.”
From Peter Gbambila, Kojokrom.
Ghana Tourism Authority is leading Ghana’s participation at ITB Berlin, which opened in Berlin with a vibrant national pavilion highlighting Ghana’s rich cultural heritage, tourism destinations and investment opportunities.
March 5 has been designated as Ghana Day, a special platform to promote Ghana’s languages, cuisine, Kente, festivals and business prospects to the global tourism community. The stand has already drawn strong interest with traditional arts and crafts displays, immersive multimedia presentations and popular Ghanaian snacks.
Seven private-sector players are exhibiting alongside government officials as part of efforts to deepen trade partnerships, expand market access, and attract investment across the hospitality, heritage tourism, ecotourism, and creative arts sectors.
Ahead of the official opening, the Ghana delegation also engaged young Ghanaian investors in Germany in collaboration with V Afrika-Verein and the Ghana Embassy, strengthening diaspora investment linkages and highlighting opportunities within the tourism value chain.
Ghana’s coordinated presence at ITB Berlin 2026 reinforces its strategy to position the country as the Gateway to Africa and a competitive destination for leisure travel and global investment.
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
