Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the running mate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has brokered peace in the leadership crisis at the Dome Market in Accra, amidst jubilation by hundreds of market women. A statement issued by Mr James Agyenim-Boateng, her Spokesman, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said a protracted dispute in the Dome Market Traders Association brought division among the market leadership, with one faction led by Madam Evelyn Abena Sebie and the other led by Madam Felicia Karley Amui; both holding themselves out as the legitimate market queens. At a durbar of traders to receive Prof Opoku-Agyemang to the market in the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, as part of her tour of markets in the Greater Accra Region, the two market queens introduced themselves as the legitimate leaders, casting accusations and counter-accusations, thereby creating tension in the market. Prof Opoku-Agyemang intervened, encouraging them to bury the hatchets so as not to hinder the market's progress. With the running mate standing between them on stage, the two market queens embraced each other for the first time in many years to signal the end of their impasse, resulting in thunderous jubilation. Prof Opoku-Agyemang commended them for agreeing to resolve their differences and promised to visit them to have all outstanding issues settled. 'We should not be fighting in these difficult times. Let's rather unite against hardship and underdevelopment,' she told the traders. She reiterated that the deplorable state of the market was a concern to the NDC, promising a facelift under the next NDC administration. 'We shall ensure that this market is well developed to make it conducive for trading,' she said. Apart from the NDC's plan to redevelop markets around the country, the running mate assured them of other interventions to support traders and small and medium-scale enterprises, citing the proposed establishment of the Women's Development Bank to provide critical microfinance support for women businesses. Pr of Opoku-Agyemang sympathised with the traders and Ghanaians in general for suffering the effects of the economic hardship in the country under the New Patriotic Party-led Government and assured them of relief under the NDC administration. 'We have carried both water and alcohol, so we now know the difference,' she said, referring to the experiences of Ghanaians under the NDC and NPP governments. 'The track record of the NDC had clearly out-performed the NPP'. She, therefore, urged the traders to vote massively for the NDC to return to power to continue its good projects, stressing that a vote for the NDC was a vote for development and progress. 'Development is our goal,' she said, reiterating the NDC's commitment to all-inclusive governance without discrimination in the distribution of resources for development. From the Dome Market, the NDC running mate visited the Kwabenya Lorry Station where she addressed hundreds of commercial drivers, commuters, traders and residents, assuring them of better living conditions under the next NDC administration. Source: Ghana News Agency