KMA Chief Executive slugfestAKWASI AGYEMAN OHENE AGYEKUM... Okumkom lays out 4 course dinner for assemblymen... but `Antoa` man rages over sumptuous meal

Chronicle intelligence has picked up heavy signs of a fierce contest for the coveted position of Chief Executive of Kumasi Metropolitan Authority. This reporter has learnt that the top hierarchy of the NDC in the region is twists and turns over news making the rounds that Nana Akwasi Agyemang, alias Okumkom, the former Metro Chief Executive Officer of Kumasi in the previous NDC regime, wants to make a comeback to the position, leaning heavily on his royal links and his past links with Rawlings.

The Chronicle also gathered that the Otumfuo himself will be making a visit to the Castle to break bread with His Excellency the President, with an entourage of 40 sub chiefs, including Nana Kwasi Agyeman, though Otumfuo's office could not readily confirm whether Okumkom will be in the delegation.

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Daniel Ohene Agyekum, The Chronicle gathered, has taken strong exception to the reports of frantic efforts being made by the former Mayor of the city, Nana Akwasi Agyemang to stage a comeback.

The controversial NDC Chairman, The Chronicle learnt, held an emergency meeting with government appointees who were recently sworn into office as representatives of the government to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, at the SSNIT Conference Hall in Adum, where he reprimanded them for accepting a dinner invitation from Nana Akwasi Agyemang.

The former KMA Boss, whose reign as the city Mayor in the previous government of the NDC sparked off a lot of controversy, was reported to have treated the government appointees to a sumptuous dinner at the Kumasi Catering Resthouse on the evening of Wednesday, February 18, 2009, after they had been sworn into office. The Regional Chairman, according to The Chronicle sources, was not happy with the appointees for accepting the invitation and demanded an explanation from them.

This came to light when the paper called the NDC Regional Chairman to confirm the story that he had scheduled a meeting with some appointees of government, together with the Regional Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Mr. Samuel Sarpong, who is in strong contention for the position of the Kumasi Metro Chief Executive.

Mr. Agyekum, who had initially declined to comment on the issue, said he called the meeting to demand answers from the appointees and to know why they turned up for the dinner. According to him, he could not fathom why the government appointees turned up for the reception held by the former KMA Boss when he (Nana Akwasi) holds no position in the party.

Nana Akwasi Agyemang, who is the longest serving Kumasi Metro Chief Executive Officer in the history of the KMA, made the headlines few weeks ago when he openly declared that he possessed the solution to the myriad of problems affecting the Metropolis and that he wanted to stage a comeback to complete an unfinished business.

Reports gathered by the paper revealed that the former KMA Boss, who earned the nickname “Okumkom”, was making serious inroads, much to the dissatisfaction of the Regional Chairman of the party, and he has, therefore, vowed to frustrate every effort by Nana Akwasi to regain the position.

It was also gathered that Ohene Agyekum is bound for the United States of America for an ambassadorial position, for his struggles for the party, and was actually penciled in as Chief of Staff, but he demurred, having being High Commissioner to Canada in the late 1990s. That position, Chronicle gathers, is going to Nana Konadu.