Some onlookers at the scene
Three officers of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) sustained injuries on Wednesday, July 8, after a demolition exercise at Asafo, behind the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) building in Kumasi, turned violent when some occupants of makeshift structures allegedly attacked an Assembly task force.
The exercise, which was undertaken to remove structures obstructing drains and waterways ahead of the rainy season, also resulted in damage to a KMA pick-up vehicle and an excavator after the angry occupants reportedly pelted the task force and city guards with stones and other objects.
According to the Assembly, the occupants, described as illegal settlers, fiercely resisted the exercise, forcing security personnel to intervene to restore calm.
Kumasi Mayor, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, condemned the attack, stressing that the violence would not derail the Assembly’s determination to enforce environmental sanitation regulations and prevent flooding in the metropolis.
“There is no way I will sit down and allow illegality to overcome me,” the Mayor declared, assuring residents that the damaged Assembly vehicles would be repaired and returned to service.
He further disclosed that the three injured officers had reported the incident to the police and were receiving medical attention.
Meanwhile, some of the affected occupants insisted that they had lawfully acquired the land and had made the necessary payments for it.
They argued that they were not given prior notice to vacate the area before the demolition, and questioned where city authorities expected them to relocate after the exercise.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi