Kumasi Welcomes New KMA Boss

Mr. Assibey Antwi

The long awaited vision of rebranding Kumasi as the Garden City of West Africa would soon be realized following the nomination of Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi as the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Kumasi.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s nomination of Mr. Assibey Antwi comes at a critical moment in the life of Kumasi, one of Africa's most important cities since time immemorial.

The city had been without a Mayor for some few months now, a situation that has not been well for the development of Kumasi.

With lots of expectations, it may seem that a heavy burden has been placed on the shoulders of Mr. Assibey Antwi.

However those who know him and are familiar with his progression in public and private life are much aware that Kumasi has rather been placed in capable hands.

The newly nominated Mayor is a holder of International Executive MBA in Marketing and a certified member of the Institute of Commercial Management, with rich background in senior management positions in both the public and private sectors.

In the public sector, Chief, as the new Mayor is soon to be affectionately called worked hard and in December 2006 he was deservedly appointed as the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister by President JA Kufour.

His appointment as a Deputy Regional Minister did not come as a surprise to all who knew him from his days as the First Regional Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from year 2000 to 2008, serving under Mr. FF Anto and Mr. Yaw Amankwa, who were Regional Chairmen from 2000 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2008 respectively.

In the history of the KMA, Mr. Assibey Antwi would be among the few Mayors who came to City Hall with a rare combination of rich experience in private life and political experience.

He recently captured in a summary of his enviable CV that “my diverse academic and professional background coupled with working experiences as a Deputy Regional Minister, Assistant Inspector of Taxes responsible for Financial and Administrative duties at the Ghana Revenue Authority and General Manager for the Kejetia Lorry Terminal etc. have richly endowed me with cross-cutting skills”.

His skills include; governance and leadership,strategy development in organizational management, auditing, accounting, risk management, financial management and marketing, and international business development.

After serving on numerous occasions as an acting Municipal and District Chief Executive during the period he served as a Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, he acquired an in-depth appreciation of the workings of the local government system, which has made him capable of being adaptable to varied cultures.

It is no wonder that he is a trustworthy and reliable team player.

The KMA has for a long time been endowed with highly qualified technocrats and vibrant Honourable Assembly Members. And with thenomination of Mr. Assibey Antwi as Mayor, the citizens of Kumasi can be restassured that the vision of setting examples for other metropolis, municipal sand districts in the country to follow will be achieved.

Born in October 1965,in Kumawu Wonoo to humble and God fearing parents, Mr. Assibey Antwi was imbibed with Christian principles from infancy and this guided his every step in life.

After completion of basic and secondary education he started his tertiary education at the Kumasi Polytechnic.

He further acquired professional qualifications in management and he capped his educational dreams with an International Executive MBA (Marketing option) from the Paris Graduate School of Management in 2014.

After leaving political office in 2009, Mr. Assibey Antwi put his entrepreneurial skills to work by establishing Amaant Prestige Company Ltd. in 2010 and in February 2015 he was the General Manager at Silkcoat Company Ltd.

At both companies he developed strategic plans,introduced productivity enhancement techniques, maintained quality services by establishing standards.

Expectations are that he will introduce these at the KMA.

Every metropolitan assembly is in need of a dynamic individual whose experience of the system can be put to good use.

One can say without any fear of exaggeration that President Akuf-Addo took this into consideration which led to the nomination of Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi.

The development of Ghana and the Ashanti Region inparticular, is at the heart of Mr. Assibey Antwi. His thoughts on how theAshanti Region can be rebranded led him to start working on a developmentproposal for the region which he named “Asanteman Development Project”.

Development is the mindset with which he is coming to the KMA with and the vibrant city of Kumasi would soon reclaim its glory as the most attractive city in West Africa.

With the right people appointed to occupy politicaloffices, the change Ghanaians called for in the December 2015 general electionswould indeed be realized sooner than anticipated.