In search of a Municipal Chief Executive for Sunyani East Municipality

First of all congratulations to Hon. Justina Owusu-Banahene (Awo) on her appointment and successful parliamentary approval as Bono Regional Minister. Thanks to His Excellency the president for appointing her to this high office.

However, it is an incontestable fact that Sunyani East over the years has been bedeviled with the menace of factionalism which has affected its development in diverse ways.

These factions have engaged in series and sequences of media warfare. It's sad that the Danquah-Busia Dombo tradition within the Sunyani East enclave has become an avenue where factionalism induced enmity has become the mainstay of affairs.

Let's not behave as ostriches and bury our heads in the sand, we must confront the real issues head on. Factionalism is eating deep into the development fortunes of Sunyani East and is critically impeding its progress.

The time has come for a neutralist to emerge who possess the requisite character and personality to unite the various factions in Sunyani East and that individual is undoubtedly Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah.

As neutral as he is, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah doesn't belong to any of the feuding factions. The weight of his personality is what is needed in Sunyani East at this critical stage to drive its development agenda.

Importantly, there is the need to stress the fact that Sunyani East is made up of various component towns and villages. In terms of ascending the seat of Municipal Chief Executive since 2009, natives from Abesim have had it twice and recently a native from Atronie also had it. Hence, it is high time a native of Sunyani equally occupies the position and the best person is Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah.

The various camps in Sunyani East are fiercely battling behind the scenes to have a member of their camp nominated as MCE for Sunyani East. One camp believes they have won the Regional Coordinating Council since a member of their camp is now the regional minister. The opposite camp is also trying so hard to have a member of their camp nominated as the MCE so that the scores will be 1-1.

The reverse camp is also pulling all strings to get their member nominated as MCE so that the scores will be 2-0 in order to have the bragging rights.

The preceding paragraph further consolidate the reason why Sunyani East at this stage needs someone who doesn't belong to any of the camps. A neutralist and a unifier who can reunite the various camps. Because any nomination from either camps will be met with huge sabotage which will not inure to the benefit of Sunyani East as development will be fiercely inhibited.

For the benefit of political novices, let me give a brief description of this great personality whose virtues are being extolled.

Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah is the current Acting Executive Director (CEO) for the Center for Plant Medicine Research. Today, it is a centre of excellence due to his demonstrable competence and impeccable track records. The CPMR received the accolade as a centre of excellence partly due to Dr Barimah's efforts and initiatives.

He recently received an award as one of the top 10 CEOs in the Pharma Industry in Ghana during the 2020 Pharma Awards recently held due to the massive role he has played in the fight against COVID-19. The Mampong-Akuapim Traditional Council has enormously honored him due to the massive transformation the Centre for Plant Medicine Research has attained under his able leadership.

Dr. Barimah's current position as the Executive Director for CPMR has equipped him with the requisite practical experience and solid leadership background essential to handle the position as MCE for Sunyani East. It is of immense importance to mention that under his leadership as the Acting Executive Director for CPMR, the centre has collaborated with KNUST Clinical Trial Team to clinically Test the efficacy of a local herbal remedy which has shown potential clinical benefits in the management of COVID-19.

This is all geared towards finding a potential cure for the monstrous corona virus using locally manufactured herbal product which when successful will earn Ghana an international recognition.

Academically, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah has been the foundation dean of the Faculty of Public Health & Allied Sciences of the Catholic University College of Ghana. He also served as the Director for Research & Consultancy at the Ghana Technology University College where under his able leadership, the Ghana Technology University College was rated as the best private university in Ghana in the year 2016, all due to his enviable research prowess.

He was a visiting lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) between 2014-2015 and is currently teaching in their Masters in Public Health Program. He is also a Contract Academic Staff at the Wilfrid Laurier University- Canada.

His love for the great kukrudu fraternity cannot be questioned as he held the position as 2nd Vice Chairman for NPP CANADA.

Again in Canada, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah was appointed as the Chairman of an Adhoc committee on Ghanaian Unity by the then Consul General of Ghana to Canada when it became necessary for unity to prevail among the various factions within the Ghanaian ethnic and religious communities in Canada. He further received the 2002 YMCA Peace Medallion Award in Canada and he further received an Award for Professional excellence from the Ghanaian News in Canada.

This award came with a citation from the Canadian House of Commons (Parliament) in November 2018 due to his immense contributions towards the development of Canada. Additionally, Dr Barimah used to raise funds for the Ghanaian High Commission in Ottawa-Canada which enabled it to carry out certain priority programs.

At the Regional level of the NPP, under the chairmanship of Hon Adu Gyan, Dr Barimah was the Chairman of the Regional Finance Committee, the chairman of the Fund Raising Committee and a Member of the Campaign Team. Also, under chairmanship of Hon Asomah Cheremeh he was the chairman of the Fund Raising Committee and chairman of the Regional Disciplinary Committee. At the Sunyani East constituency level, he has been chief patron and patron respectively.

Undeniably, the economy of Bono is mostly agrarian (agriculture-based), and looking at his tremendous love for agriculture since he is a cashew nut farmer himself, there is no doubt that Agric under his leadership will see a massive turn around. Dr Barimah co-founded an NGO called Akuafoo Empowerment Network which is located in Sunyani and whose goal is to see to the development of agric and the improvement of the welfare of the ordinary farmer.

To further spice his love for agriculture up, Dr Barimah pursued a Masters Program in Rural Extension with a focus on Agricultural Extension at the University of Guelph. The catalogued points on Agriculture justifies why he will be a solid pivot to spin the agricultural fortunes of the Sunyani Municipality in an upward trajectory since he is overly committed to farming with a focus on capacity building.

Also, Sunyani East is plagued with plethora of sanitation issues, and considering his PhD in Public Health coupled with his rich expertise in health promotion and Community Development he definitely has the suitable antidote to remedy this canker.

As a scholar of high international standards, to demonstrate his love for education, he teamed up with his friends to establish the BAB Leadership Institute in Sunyani which is focused on providing high powered tutorials and training to the youth in order to successfully pass foreign exams such as TOEFL, SAT, GRE etc.

This is very important because it affords the youth the opportunity to gain international scholarships which enable them to pursue further studies abroad.

Dr. Barimah's desire to serve the good people of Sunyani East as their Municipal Chief Executive didn't start today. His first attempt was in 2004 during President Kufour's regime where he was shortlisted and interviewed but it went to Hon Twumasi. His second attempt was in 2017 where he was again shortlisted and interviewed but the position went to Hon Kumi-Richardson.

All these failures didn't discourage him due to his unflinching love and passion for Sunyani East. His desire to contribute his immense quota towards the development of Sunyani East is something that cannot be quantified nor measured.

His credibility and level of competence are unmatched and incalculable as evidenced in the preceding paragraphs. Above all, this is the sort of leadership and competence that the Sunyani East Municipal Assembly urgently needs.

The world currently finds itself in a monstrous pandemic of which Ghana has not been spared, hence, we need health promotion experts laced with community development skills to provide effective and efficient leadership at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly and Dr Barimah is the best bet.

In a nutshell, Dr Kofi Bobi Barimah is an Academician, Psychologist, Researcher, Health Promotion & Community Development Expert, Administrator, Fund Raising Expert, Unifier & Peace Promoter, a grassroots person, a down to earth accomplished scholar of international repute and above all a transformational leader as evidenced in this write up.

Based on the aforementioned, I humbly and respectfully appeal to all and sundry within the great kukrudu fraternity including; the Sunyani East Constituency and Regional Council of Elders, Regional Minister, Regional Chairman, Sunyani East Constituency Executives, Regional Executives and the vibrant grassroots to put the interest of the party first and consider Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah as the next Municipal Chief Executive for the Sunyani East Municipal Assembly.

God Bless Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah

God Bless Sunyani East