Akwasi Agyeman storms KMA meeting

The controversial former Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Nana Akwasi Agyeman, on Monday night stormed a meeting of the assembly at the Prempeh Assembly Hall, being held to elect a presiding member. He arrived there just before the counting of votes was to begin and remained throughout the counting.

The two contestants for the position, the Very Reverend Isaac Twum and Nana Kofi Senya, both failed to get the required two-thirds majority, needed to be elected.

The presence of Nana Agyeman at the elections lent credence to news making the rounds that he has more than a passing interest in the affairs of the KMA. Kumasi residents have accused Nana Agyeman, who has spent 22 years at the helm of affairs at the KMA, of undermining the administration of the current Chief Executive, Maxwell Kofi Jumah.

They allege that he provided financial support for a section of the assembly members who embarked on a botched attempt to pass a vote of no confidence in Kofi Jumah in the last assembly. Nana Agyeman is said to be backing a particular candidate in the Presiding Member election election who has promised to get the KMA Chief Executive if he is elected.

The Statesman saw Nana Agyeman chatting with a number of assembly members, but he rushed into his car and sped off after it was announced that the election had ended in a stalemate.

In recent times the rumour, which has been busy churning out news that Nana Agyeman, who unleashed a reign of terror during his tenure of office, is seriously considering the possibility of returning to the Chief Executive position at the KMA, which he considers as his “personal property.” But others believe that the presence at the meeting was a demonstration of his recently announced decision to join the NPP.

The absence of a Presiding Member at the KMA is seriously affecting the work of the assembly. The tender board, for instance, cannot convene in the absence of the Presiding Member, who is also constitutionally empowered to preside over meetings. Authorities as at Tuesday evening were linked to a likely intervention to resolve the impasse.

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Frederick Fredua Anto, told a Kumasi radio station on Tuesday that a compromise would be reached very soon. He said efforts are being made to persuade one of the candidates to step down; if that fails, then both candidates would step down for a compromise candidate acceptable to all the members.

Asked why he was interfering in the election of a Presiding Member of the KMA, which is a non-political position, the NPP chairman explained that both candidates are card-bearing members of the NPP, who claim to have development of Kumasi at heart. “As the Regional Chairman of the party, I would be failing my duty if I allowed the personal interest of the two to stall the development of Kumasi,” he lauded.