Former Kumasi Mayor, Patricia Apiagyei
Former Mayor of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Madam Patricia Appiagyei has revealed the ordeal she went through before accepting to become the Chief Executive of the Assembly.
On Kumasi-based Abusua Fm hosted by Luther King Kwame Adinkra in commemoration of the International Women’s Day, she opened up and said she was discouraged by her close family not to accept the appointment for various reasons but eventually mustered courage and went for it.
Madam Patricia Appiagyei who is now the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa Constituency served as the Mayor of KMA from 2006 till the exit of the Kufuor led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration on January 7, 2009.
Her administration brought an end to what appeared to have been long-standing animosity among some members of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the former mayor that was thwarting efforts to develop the metropolis to an appreciable standard.
Speaking on her reign for the first time, the current Deputy Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, disclosed that her family was disturbed when President Kufour offered her that position arguing that the position is a difficult one for even men.
“My family discouraged me from accepting to be Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. They claimed it was a difficult one for the men and as a woman, it could be worse. I was not deterred by these comments and braced myself for the challenge”, she revealed.
She made an appeal to all women to be bold and take up such positions calling on their male counterparts to give their full backing to women in such positions in the interest of national development.
According to her, women are full of ideas and tactful in their dealings, very circumspect and influential compared to their male counterparts when given the push in trying times.
