Chief Executive Officer of KMA, Richard Ofori Agyemang
The Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Richard Ofori Agyemang, popularly known as King Zuba, has attributed the failure of past decongestion exercises in the Ashanti regional capital to unsustainable enforcement strategies.
In an interview on Joy FM and monitored by GhanaWeb on Monday, May 19, 2025, he indicated that the reliance on heavy police deployment could not be maintained over time, as it places a significant financial burden on the assembly.
“Previous decongestion exercises were not sustainable because of the approaches. Now, if we are to deploy about 300 police officers in and get everybody off the pavements, it will come at the cost to the assembly beyond three months when the financing assemblies no longer can accommodate the 300 policemen, so I thought of having a much more sustainable approach,” he noted.
Richard Ofori Agyemang explained that the KMA will deploy a combined team of urban guards, National Security operatives to patrol the cleared areas to ensure free flow of traffic.
“When I took over, there were about six great ladies and officers who were supporting us by leading our urban guards to manage security within the metropolis. I put them together with a team of about two National Security operatives and some city guards. We are patrolling the areas that we have asked the people to leave just so we can have free flow of traffic in the central business districts.
“Those are the ways that we tend to do this decongestion without it biting too much on people who do informal trading activity within the commercial metropolis, and I think we are getting good results,” he added.
The KMA announced a decongestion exercise on Monday, May 5, 2025.
The exercise will involve the demolition of unauthorised structures, and the seizure of goods and items displayed on pavements.
Speaking recently to journalists in Kumasi, the Kumasi Mayor emphasised that the exercise will focus on key areas such as the Kejetia Roundabout, also known as the Otumfuo Roundabout, and the Adehyeman area near the Kumasi Zoo.
“We will ensure that everyone occupying those spaces is removed. Any metallic object placed on the street will be cleared,” he stated.
JKB/AE
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