On Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly’s misplaced development agenda

Once regarded as the Garden City of West Africa, it is increasingly clear Kumasi has lost this valuable accolade. Kumasi Metropolis now battles with filth, unclear governing town planning laws and unnecessary vehicular and human traffic. Though the city has witnessed the so-called decongestion exercise, Kumasi is even finding it difficult to define where to sell, where pedestrians are supposed to use and where vehicles are to park.

In the face of these hard times, one wonders if there exists a local governance unit as part of Ghana’s decentralization system. In October 2009, the Mayor of Kumasi Metropolis was quoted as part of the decongestion exercise as saying “We are starting today and surely we will sustain it. Those who will return will be arrested and prosecuted in court”. What do we see today? Pedestrians are today compelled to share lanes with hawkers. Kumasi today is an epitome of a unplanned city without direction. I had on October 2009 stated in the article titled “Sustaining the Unsustainable: the case of decongestion in Kumasi” that the efficacy of the decongestion exercise was lost and predicted that the exercise would not stand the test of time. This has become a reality. The value of the decongestion exercise without shred of any doubt has effaced.

These lapses give an indication that something is wrong with the local governance system. It is not far from right to say that the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has lost grounds in administering and governing Kumasi. What we see today is only worrying and sad. Depicting a state of an amorphous entity, Kumasi has no clear guiding laws and development agenda. Even if they exist, they have been relegated to the background. A common thing is seen when one walks around the city. Filth all over. Stuck in the conservative process of decentralization, revenue collectors are deployed to take taxes even from people that sell on the streets in the full glare of dirty surroundings. What are the taxes used for?

It is hard time KMA acknowledged that a modern day city is administered by enacted applicable laws and a development plan to give set direction but not thuggery. The thuggery nature of administering Kumasi has simply outlived its significance. Though the people under the Task Force set up by KMA are purportedly playing their roles, it is unsustainable to make Kumasi a city worthy of emulation. The application of laws should inform the people the routes to use as pedestrian path. A totally lawless state that depicts the case of Kumasi has the propensity to plunge the city into chaos. When vehicles can park and stop at any point, and one can buy and sell even in pavements and road sides, that society has no sustainable future development.

Infrastructure in Kumasi is witnessing a worrying state. With ever increasing population and number of vehicles in town, one would expect increased road accessibility and expansion. The same access roads are being used not talking about their poor state. This accounts for the unnecessary traffic and delays that have long term effect on productivity when workers report to work late. Counting on the local governance unit to find lasting solution to vehicular traffic, KMA could only compel commercial drivers in the Kumasi metropolis to have new transport Operative Permit before they would be allowed to operate. In KMA’s press statement, it was stated that this directive aims at ensuring discipline and orderliness by commercial drivers and their managers in the transport business.

When the most pressing issue has do with finding solution to vehicular traffic, is KMA telling the people of Kumasi instilling discipline in commercial drivers will reduce traffic? Road accessibility is poor. It is worthy to mention that law enforcement is the right tool in instilling discipline and not a directive that even contradicts the 1992 Constitution of Ghana that gives every individual the right to association.

KMA should be busy getting a feasible plan in place to rid the city of filths that have engulfed all corners of streets and even the Central Business District. Filth is now part of Kumasi and it is normal for hawkers to trade in the midst of dirty surroundings. City aesthetics mean nothing to KMA. Aside from the fact that filths have dented the aesthetics of the city, improper planning and inadequate infrastructure have made matters worse. Under the guise of proper planning, permits are given for the siting of containers without consideration of location. Houses are allowed to be built even in water-logged areas. Does Kumasi even have a human settlement development plan? No wonder houses are built haphazardly and are prone to floods.

In the 21st century, a well planned city is guided by laws and has a direction. And indeed, one would not expect Kumasi to be one. May be we anticipate someday. The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly should live up to expectation. Enforceable laws dealing with hawking, building and ensuring a clean environment should remain their prime focus.

Kejetia needs complete planning to properly demarcate commercial activities, a specialized parking lot for commercial vehicles and pedestrian lanes. It is surprising Kumasi though has waste management companies operating is grappling with scattered and overwhelming quantity of filth. Bad stench from gutters even in the central business district raises a lot of questions on the commitment of KMA toward waste management. From indication, KMA is having no clear blueprint to lead Kumasi in today and in the next 5 years. This is untenable.

Wondering why Kumasi has lost its feat as a tourist destination. It’s simply because KMA is oblivious of the potentials of tourism for every economy. Without mincing matters, what is so unique to attract a tourist aside from its historic culture?

The Mayor and his team should go beyond the rhetoric. The talk and empty promises are too much. Kumasi needs an action plan aimed at raising its city status. What exists today is a clear case of misplaced development agenda. KMA cannot be particular with forcing commercial drivers to join associations when indeed traffic situation in the city is horrible. When the city is filled with filth, one expects a feasible waste management plan to keep the city clean. KMA should come clear of how better to manage Kumasi. A clear plan that dictates where and when an activity should be undertaken should be formulated and implemented.

The policy contradiction where hawkers are taxed and at the same time sacked from the streets must stop. Again, taxes should be translated into development projects to establish the social compact that engenders the commitments of tax payers.

Much is expected of KMA to transform and restore the lost image of Kumasi being the Garden City of West Africa.

The author Stephen Yeboah is a Development Practitioner and the National Coordinator for Osagyefo Network for Rural Development (OSNERD), a non-governmental organization based in Kumasi. He can be reached at [stephenyeboah110@yahoo.com]