Blows At KMA Meeting

IT WAS a free-for-all scuffle at the assembly hall of the Christian Village in Kumasi on Thursday when the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) gathered to undertake an orientation workshop for the newly-inaugurated assembly members.

The incident, which occurred in the presence of Oheneba Adusei Poku, the Akyempeamhene, occurred when some government appointees pounced on the assembly member for Abusua Kurowa, Hon Maxwell Ofosu Boakye.

The Akyempeamhene represented the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the function.

This was after the assembly member attempted to accost the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, to raise a concern.

Before then, Hon Boakye had attempted to register his protest about the arrangement of the two-day programme, but the KMA Chief Executive, Samuel Sarpong, stopped him.

Reports indicate that the assembly member was not enthused about a segment of the programme which was meant for the inauguration of government appointees for the 10 sub metros in the city.

This, according to sources, was because the original programme of activities issued to the assembly members did not include the inauguration of government appointees.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that immediately Boakye raised his hand to express displeasure about the inclusion of the inauguration section, the KMA boss allegedly retorted “are you mad sit down.”

The paper learnt that when the dignitaries, which included the Ashanti Regional Minister Dr Kwaku Agyeman Mensah, were about to take their seat, the assembly member tried to raise the same concern again, but the KMA boss rudely prevented him.

Realizing that the Kumasi mayor was not going to allow him to express himself, Hon Boakye decided to seek audience with the Local Government and Rural Development Minister.

As he attempted to get closer to Mr. Ofosu Ampofo, some government appointees who were mainly constituency executives of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) confronted him and subjected him to severe beatings.

If it had not been for the intervention of some assembly members, Hon Boakye would have been beaten mercilessly.

This distasteful development did not only disrupt the programme but also incurred the displeasure of the Akyeampemhene, who later spoke vehemently against it.

In spite of the mishap, the programme proceeded and the inauguration of the over 200 government appointees went on under the supervision of a Kumasi High Court judge.

Hon Boakye told DAILY GUIDE in a telephone interview that he did not only want to raise concern about the inclusion of the inauguration section, but also the exceedingly high number of government appointees for the sub metros.

According to him, as per the Legal Instrument (LI) governing the appointment of government appointees for the sub metros, four people were supposed to be appointed for each sub metro.

Contrary to this provision, the Abusua Kurowa assembly member said the assembly inaugurated 26 people in each of the ten sub metros.

“My intention was not to disrupt the programme but to raise concern about this breach but the KMA boss will not allow me and when I pushed forward the appointees pounced on me,” Hon Boakye stated.

Indicating that he suffered serious body pains from the attack, Hon Boakye said he had received several threatening messages which he intended reporting to the police.

Reacting to the issue in an interview with Boss FM, a Kumasi-based radio station, Clement Kigeli, spokesperson for the KMA boss, denied the occurrence of the incident.

According to him, at no point in the course of the meeting did Mr. Sarpong remark that Hon Boakye was mad, adding that the assembly member was not attacked as being alleged.