The Minority Caucus in Parliament has strongly condemned the Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, over his plan to publicly flog traders who defy orders to vacate unauthorized trading zones within the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.
The Mayor’s controversial comments, made ahead of a planned two-week decongestion exercise, have triggered widespread public outrage, with many calling on him to retract his statement and issue an unqualified apology.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, April 16, the ranking member of the Local Government and Rural Development Committee, Francis Asenso-Boakye, described the mayor’s comments as reckless and a threat to democratic governance.
“Violence, threats of physical abuse, and the use of fear as a governance tool are unacceptable in any form and have no place in a constitutional democracy like ours. The remarks made by the Mayor are not only reckless, but also risk undermining public confidence in local authorities and may expose the Assembly to potential human rights violations,” part of the statement read.
The Minority Caucus has therefore called on the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Ahmed Ibrahim, to intervene immediately.
“We therefore call on the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development to intervene as a matter of urgency and impress upon the Mayor the need to retract his comments and adopt a more lawful, respectful, and humane approach to enforcement.”
Meanwhile, the mayor insists that his threat to flog defiant traders is a necessary step to restore order and enforce discipline.
“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.
“Those in the middle of the road, some of them are cooking, selling all manner of food, it’s not attractive, I want to deal with it head-on.
“Kumasi is engulfed with so much filth, and I want to deal with it head-on.”
He, however, refused to mention if his decision was sanctioned by President John Dramani Mahama.
“We won’t get to that point, let the focus be on the end product.”
He argued that traditional enforcement methods, including relying on the police, have proven ineffective over the years, and his direct approach would be more cost-effective and impactful.
Credit: CNR
