The Kumasi Traditional Council has expressed displeasure over the lack of developmental projects in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi.
As a result of that, the chiefs have set up a development council to champion the cause of development from the national kitty to the region.
Members of over 70 suburban and divisional chiefs, said the region has been stifled of development despite its huge contribution to national growth.
Divisional chiefs are the steering committee members of the council which has kicked-started its operations.
According to them they would continue to demand from government specific development projects within the framework of a proposed 20-year blue-print.
Bantamahene, Baffuor Owusu Amankwatia VI, who has been speaking to the issue, told journalists in Kumasi that, “they (chiefs) are appalled by poor road networks and general lawlessness in Kumasi.”
“It’s not fair that when you go Accra, what you see in Accra [and] you come to Kumasi and its diferent.”
Sometimes when somebody tells you that Kumasi is the second city after Accra, you don’t believe it. We had the chance to look at the road development for the whole of Ghana in terms of ratings when you start from the bottome, Kumasi is the number three,” he disclosed.
According to him, the chiefs were worried about what they said, was the widening development gab between Kumasi and Accra.
Asantehene, Otumuo Osei Tutu II, has designated two Thursdays in every month for council meetings.
Baffuor Amankwatia said, “Kumasi has suffered years of neglect despite playing a major role in national economic development agenda.”
“Seriously when you look at the resources that come from Kumasi [Ashanti Region], I don’t think we deserve that.”
“We produce cocoa, we produce timber; we produce gold and now we are going into bauxite so I believe that we deserve the fair share of the national cake,” he said.
According to Baffuor Amankwatia VI, chiefs in the region will, hence forth, demand and accept projects only if they meet expectation and requirement of Kumasi Development Council.
“Nananom [chiefs] are putting up a 20-year development plan; how we want Kumasi to look like in the next 20-years so that whatever development that we are going to do in Kumasi will follow that blueprint. It’s not going to be like we are doing a fly over then the government will come [and say] we can’t do the flyover so we are doing a small street for you here. No. Nananom are not going to accept it anymore.”
“If you can’t do the flyover, you stop it. That’s the only way that we can bring Kumasi to the level that it used to be,” added.
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Source: Today Newspaper
