Traders in and around the Central Business District of Accra on Monday bemoaned the slow pace at which sales of goods were progressing ahead of the Christmas festivities.

When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited some selected markets, traders attributed the situation to the 2020 Elections, saying most people had spent their monies on political activities and campaigns, hence the lack of money in the system.

Madam Deborah Tetteh, a trader in plastics and Mr Kwabena Afenyi, a dealer in female shoes said even though sales was slow, they were hopeful that as the week progressed, the market would become buoyant once again.

“This is usually the case when it is an election year. Prior to the elections, market was good, but I guess because people have invested much into the political activities, they are currently hard up with funds.

“Usually, the market starts rising at most places a week after elections. So we are hopeful that things will improve pretty soon,” Mr Afenyi said.

Madam Mary Akweteh, a rice seller said: “We are not seeing any improvement in sales. We have been here all day and nothing is happening.

“I have not even sold one 5kg of rice since I came today. So all I resort to is sleeping and whiling away time as I remain hopeful that someone will come my way to buy my goods.”

“Depending on the brand, a 5 kg of rice may sell between GH¢35.00 to GH¢37.00. Last year by this time, I didn’t even have enough fingers to count all the money I was making from sales, but this year’s events are nothing to write home about. We pray things change soon,” she added.

Meanwhile, GNA observed that traffic had mounted in the Business District with people walking briskly and going about their schedules.