Krofrom market left to rot for 17 years: Snakes, Smokers, and stench replace promised prosperity

Snakes, smokers, and human waste are now the tenants of the abandoned Krofrom Market.

This month, July, marks a somber anniversary for Kumasi: it has been exactly 17 years since the infamous Krofrom Market construction began. From July 2008 to mid-July 2025, the project has spanned approximately 6,200 to 6,220 days.

The Krofrom Market project has become a classic example of a “white elephant.”

For years, the only progress has been empty rhetoric. Government after government, KMA boss after KMA boss, have promised action, yet the market remains abandoned. Meanwhile, traders, the very people this project was meant to empower have been left stranded, their livelihoods hanging in the balance.

A recent visit to the Krofrom Market site raises a painful question: Would any politician, president, or KMA boss tolerate such abandonment if it were their own home left unfinished for nearly two decades? The lack of leadership is palpable.

What was once envisioned as an ultramodern marketplace, with over 500 stores and shelves to boost local commerce, now stands as a monument to neglect.

In the minds of politicians, the project may be “completed,” but on the ground, all that remains is wasted land, squandered funds, lost opportunities, and a community left in limbo.

Today, the situation is dire. Weeds have overtaken the buildings some even taller than the abandoned shelves themselves. The once-modern red roofing is now covered in overgrown vegetation. If financial constraints prevent the completion of the project, is there truly no money available even for basic maintenance, such as weeding the site to preserve its status?

Since 2008, Ghana has held five successful general elections, yet no administration has managed to complete the Krofrom Market. The community’s patience is wearing thin.

The abandoned market now has new “occupants”: snakes, smokers, and criminals. The area has become a haven for illicit activities. Even more alarming, some smokers and nearby residents have turned the market into an open toilet facility, with all the shelves filled with human waste. Why are we allowing this project to go to waste?

As a new government takes the reins, led by John Dramani Mahama and the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Kumasi Ofori Agyeman Boadi, the people of Krofrom are left wondering: Will this administration finally break the cycle of failure, or will it join the list of those who let this project and this community go to waste?

Well, Time will Tell. But the people of Kumasi and all of Ghana deserve better.

Source: www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu

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