The Minority Caucus in Parliament has strongly criticized the Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, for his plan to publicly flog traders who disobey orders to vacate unauthorized trading zones within the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. The Mayor’s controversial comments, made in anticipation of a planned two-week decongestion exercise, have sparked public outrage, prompting calls for him to retract his statement and issue an unqualified apology.
On Wednesday, April 16, Francis Asenso-Boakye, the ranking member of the Local Government and Rural Development Committee, said in a statement that the mayor’s remarks were careless and a danger to democratic administration. “In a constitutional democracy like ours, violence, threats of physical harm, and the use of fear as a tool of governance are abhorrent in all their forms. In addition to being careless, the Mayor’s comments run the risk of eroding public trust in local government and exposing the Assembly to possible human rights abuses, the statement said.
The Minority Caucus is calling on the Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Ahmed Ibrahim, to intervene immediately and “impress upon the Mayor the need to retract his comments and adopt a more lawful, respectful, and humane approach to enforcement.” Despite the condemnation, the mayor insists that his threat to flog defiant traders is a necessary step to restore order and enforce discipline, arguing that traditional enforcement methods have proven ineffective.
“I don’t believe in using the police for decongestion because I will spend so much on them, and after that, we will get back to the status quo,” he said. The Mayor refused to confirm whether his decision was sanctioned by President John Dramani Mahama, stating, “We won’t get to that point, let the focus be on the end product.”
Sack Kumasi Mayor Now – Akosua Manu
Former Parliamentary candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Adentan, Akosua Manu, has also strongly condemned the Kumasi Mayor’s threat, calling his actions “a recipe for chaos and lawlessness.” Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily, Akosua Manu called for the immediate dismissal of the Mayor, saying his comments and posture were unbefitting of any public officeholder and should not be tolerated under a democratic system.
“He should have been the shortest-serving appointee in this government. Upon hearing that he had repeated physical assault as a likely punishment to deter hawkers, as soon as he said that, the President should have called the Chief of Staff to remove him from office. In no way in our governance should that be tolerated, from anybody,” she declared.
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