Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, Mayor of Kumasi
The Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, has defended his controversial comments regarding the use of corporal punishment against traders defying the city’s pavement trading ban.
Speaking in an interview on Citi FM on April 15, 2025, Boadi insisted that his threat to flog non-compliant traders was a drastic but necessary measure to enforce discipline and restore order in the city.
“I don’t believe in using the police for decongestion because I will spend so much on them, and after that, we’ll get back to the status quo,” citinewsroom.com quoted him to have said.
He added that previous enforcement strategies had failed to yield lasting results, prompting a more aggressive stance.
The remarks come ahead of a two-week decongestion exercise set to begin on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, which will target unauthorized trading activities along pavements and public spaces in Kumasi’s Central Business District.
“Some traders are in the middle of the road cooking and selling all kinds of food. It’s not attractive. Kumasi is engulfed in so much filth, and I want to deal with it head-on,” he emphasized.
When asked whether his strategy had been approved by President John Dramani Mahama, the mayor declined to comment directly, saying, “We won’t get to that point, let the focus be on the end product.”
He argued that relying on the police for enforcement is not only expensive but also ineffective, and that his approach would be more impactful and cost-efficient in the long term.
AM/KA
Meanwhile, watch GhanaWeb’s tour of Fort Victoria and the Cape Coast Lighthouse below:
