Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, has outlined an ambitious and uncompromising vision to rejuvenate the Ashanti regional capital under the theme: “Building a Better Kumasi”.
His five critical priorities include boosting soft tourism, improving sanitation, creating a resilient local economy, establishing a conducive business framework, and expanding infrastructure, all aimed at generating employment.
“We must use what we do to create employment,” emphasised the mayor, setting the tone for a sweeping transformation agenda.
King Zuba, as he is affectionately known, pointed to a decongestion of the Central Business District (CBD), particularly the Adum Market, where hawkers have taken over pedestrian walkways, streets and shop fronts, making access difficult for shoppers and business owners alike.
“Businesses within the Central Business District tend to suffer. Navigating your way to get something at Adum is a difficulty,” he observed in a charged and detailed interview with David Akuetteh in the studios of Luv FM.
Mr. Boadi observed that relocating hawkers to satellite markets has proven ineffective in the past; hence will not be repeated. Instead, he proposed a structural reorganisation of the Adum area, envisioning a one-way traffic system, with one lane designated for entry and the other for exit.
Beginning April 16, 2025, the KMA will embark on a citywide sanitation campaign and decongestion exercise.
The city mayor says citizens found dumping refuse irresponsibly will face severe consequences, both legal and physical.
“If you do this within this time and I catch you, we won’t only take you to the police, we will beat you,” he asserted.
He added that such offenders will be publicly beaten to serve as a deterrent, backing his words with what he calls a “military democratic attitude” to governance.
Partnership with Prison Service
In an unprecedented move, the Mayor revealed plans to partner with the Regional Prisons Command to deploy a 50-man prison cleaning gang. These inmates will be assigned to various streets within Adum between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily to clear the CBD of filth.
Two dump trucks will make hourly rounds to collect the waste, he added.
Mr. Boadi expressed his disappointment in the city’s major technical institutions, the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), saying their impact on the city’s development is negligible.
“These schools’ impacts aren’t being felt. They must be able to assist us technologically to modernise our city,” he added.
According to him, bridging the gap between academia and urban development is essential to making technical education relevant to national progress.
He commended the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene’s efforts to involve academia in governance and indicated his readiness to collaborate further with institutional heads.
“The honorable regional minister has started some initiatives, so I will team up with him. They must assist us technologically to make sure that things we need to modernize our city are available,” he said.
As his administration kicks off, King Zuba is not shying away from making bold moves to reshape the Garden City.
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