THE KUMASI Traditional Council (KTC) has asked President John Mahama to sack Kumasi Metropolitan Authority (KMA) Chief Executive, Kojo Bonsu, accusing him of showing gross disrespect to them.
At a crunch meeting of the KTC, which was held at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Monday, the chiefs unanimously accused Kojo Bonsu of disrespecting them on countless occasions, stressing that they had had enough of Kojo Bonsu’s gross insubordination.
The request is coming three days after a visit to the Ashanti Region by President Mahama, with Kojo Bonsu as part of his (president’s) entourage.
Rituals
The necessary rituals, including the slaughtering of a sheep, were performed at the palace, the seat of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to signify that the KTC had nothing to do with Kojo Bonsu, if he continued to parade himself as the Kumasi mayor.
The chiefs said past Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) chief executives, notably Nana Akwasi Agyeman aka Okumkom, who was the longest serving Kumasi mayor, never had any issue with them because he respected them and the Golden Stool.
They wondered why Mr Kojo Bonsu, who also hails from Offinso in the Ashanti Region, had on countless occasions been showing gross disrespect to the traditional leaders since he was appointed as the Kumasi mayor.
The chiefs said they were hopeful that President Mahama would receive their urgent message and act upon it by appointing a new mayor the chiefs could work with.
Warning
The Asafohene, Acheamfuor Kwame Akowuah, who presided over the meeting, said the slaughtering of the sheep on Thursday clearly testified that they (chiefs) were fed-up with Kojo Bonsu, so he should be removed from office.
He sternly cautioned him (Bonsu) not to step at the Manhyia Palace again in his capacity as the chief executive of the KMA, since the chiefs would not accord him the needed recognition.
Absent
Mr Kojo Bonsu, who was duly summoned to appear before the KTC on Monday, could not attend the meeting. The Ashanti Regional Minister, John Alexander Ackon, told the chiefs that he (Bonsu) was unwell and that he was at the hospital receiving treatment at the time of the meeting.
Apology
Mr Alexander Ackon apologised on behalf of the KMA chief executive and appealed to the KTC to give him the chance to appear before them at a later date so that he (Kojo Bonsu) could answer the numerous charges that the chiefs had levelled against him and apologise subsequently.
The Asantehene’s Chief Linguist, Nsuase Poku Agyeman, stated that the Asafohene, who presided over the meeting, represented Otumfuo therefore his (Asafohene’s) order that Kojo Bonsu ought to be sacked from office was irreversible.
Accusation
He mentioned Kojo Bonsu’s decision to write a letter to question the authority of Nana Agyenim Boateng, the Amoamanhene, who was appointed by Otumfuo to represent the chiefs on a committee that was to supervise the construction of the Kejetia project, as one of the mayor’s many insubordinations towards the chiefs.
According to him, the Kejetia Bus Terminal project started at the time Samuel Sarpong was the mayor and the chiefs had a splendid working relationship with the KMA then, bemoaning how Kojo Bonsu had constantly disrespected them.
Baffuor Osei Kwame Kantankrankyi, who is one of Otumfuo’s linguists, said the chiefs had concluded that Kojo Bonsu should be sacked from office by the president, indicating that no amount of apologies could persuade them to soften their stance.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi