KMA rubbishes claims by aggrieved assembly members

The Mayor of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Hon. Kojo Bonsu has described calls for his arrest by what he called, "greedy and gluttonous" members of the assembly as mere "ugly noises".

Accordingly, he has called on the media to disregard the desperate calls from these "agenda - seeking handful" of members whose mission is to sacrifice the collective interest of the metropolis to satisfy the interests of their paymasters.

Speaking on behalf of the Mayor at a press conference in Kumasi, personal spokesperson, Samuel Gyemfi, indicated that the Mayor is prepared to confront any form of a probe or forensic investigation regarding all expenses vested in the modern state of the art Rattray Park which he says, sadly has become the subject of controversy.

The aggrieved assembly members raised the red flags after he revealed that the plush project cost the assembly 4.4 million US dollars. They alleged misappropriation of funds and diversion of same earmarked for what they say is for "priority" projects.

According to the peeved assembly members, the Mayor spent above the approved budgetary allocation meant for the Rattray Park project.

They, therefore, called for a breakdown of the expenditure on the project and account for revenue accrued from its operations.

But Mr Gyemfi insists the calls by what he called 5% aggrieved assembly members is mischievous and vain in their allegations.

Adding, “There was never any act of financial impropriety in the construction of Ghana’s premier park, the Rattray Park has become the preferred destination for relaxation for the people of Kumasi and beyond.”

In fact, its the envy of many under the Kojo Bonsu administration and must be embraced with both hands. According to the spokesperson, the assembly followed all due processes permitted by law in expending funds on the project.

Mr Gyamfi explained that the assembly spent beyond the approved budgetary allocation, stressing that the decision is permissible.

“It is not strange, it is not illegal, it is not criminal for an institution of state to exceed its budget because of fluctuations and unanticipated variations which always happen. But we are saying that in exceeding our budget we followed the due process of the law.

"We followed the Procurement Act; we followed the Financial Administration Act-our accounts are there. Our internal audit department is auditing it, the Auditor General will audit and a report will be forwarded to the august house of Parliament for further scrutiny,” he stressed.