Nahinso chief was not arrested as reported by the media - Asokwa MCE denies allegation

The Asokwa Municipal Assembly, led by the MCE, Akwanuasah Gyimah, has refuted claims suggesting that the chief of Nahinso, Nana Addo Boamah was arrested for constructing a road.

Addressing a press conference with regards to the said allegation, the Municipal Chief disclosed that the address was in response to some 'false publications by some media houses due to untruthful narrations they received from the Chief of Nahinso, within the Asokwa Municipality.

"As MCE, my attention was drawn to the activities of the chief by my NADMO Director and the Assembly member for Kyirapatre and some residents concerning an illegal sand winning under the GridCo Pylons in the area". He said

The MCE further disclosed that, he got an earlier information that the chief was undertaking an illegal activity to fill a wetland he was developing at a nearby location.

"As a responsible head of the municipality, I visited both sites to confirm the information I had. I visited the place with stakeholders of the Assembly including heads of departments and the Asokwa Divisional Police Command on Wednesday 17th July, 2024 and the following facts were established; The chief was not arrested reported by the media, the chief has not done any road works as he claims, only three trips of unapproved sand was dumped at some section of the road, the chief has engaged in sand winning of gravels under the pylons to fill a wetland, the pylons are now exposed to eminent danger due to the chief's unauthorized activities". He revealed.

Expressing shock over the chief's claim that he was arrested, the MCE said, instead of the chief telling the truth that some of his boys were invited by the police for engaging in sand winning activity, he decided to peddle falsehood that he was arrested by the police.

He further expressed disappointment in the chief for quickly rushing to the media to court public attention and sympathy with the lies he peddled. The municipal assembly has therefore urged the general public to disregard any such allegations.

"As an assembly we are guided by the law regarding sand winning activities and the filling of wetlands for human habitation as stipulated in Section 93 of Act 925. We are therefore determined to enforce the law on the same, no matter who is involved."

He finally put it on record that the Asokwa Municipal Assembly has not caused the arrest of any chief as claimed.

Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional NADMO Director, Mr. Frank Duodu disclosed that previously, thus on Wednesday, the chief was only invited. But however confirmed that the NADMO together with the GridCo caused the arrest of the chief for doing the worst after his first invitation.

"Previously, the chief was invited for digging under a pylon to cause havoc. He went and did the worst by digging more under the pylons to fill a waterway without approval. Both NADMO and GridCo work according to the constitution, and by virtue of the constitution what he did was illegal that needed to cause for his arrest".

According to the NADMO director, the chief's method of winning the sand under the pylons was illegal adding that filling the Oda Waterways made it worst.

"He requested for a machine to excavate the Oda river but that was wrong. You don't excavate the Oda river waterway in that way. There is a way out, and all of you will agree with me about the kind of havoc that will cause.

The NADMO director revealed that the chief did the worst by digging more sand under the high tension pole after his boys had been invited in the previous days. He said, the chief in reality was using the laterite he dug under the pylons to fill the Oda River waterways which is very illegal. According to him, the Nahinso chief after being exposed, intentionally dumped two trips of sand on the roadside under the pretext of constructing the road, which in reality wasn't the case.

Background

A news publication widely spread by the various media outlets indicated that the chief of Nahinso in the Ashanti Region, was arrested by officials from the Asokwa Municipal Assembly for undertaking road works without official authorisation.

He was subsequently released on bail over the weekend.

But earlier defending his actions, Nana Addo Boamah stated that he acted out of necessity due to the authorities' failure to address the persistent problems with roads in the area.

He said, despite persistent pleas, the road issues still remained unresolved, compelling him to take matters into his own hands to mitigate the hazards and improve the community's infrastructure".

He further disclosed that in his attempt to provide a helping hand to calm down the issues, several attempts to collaborate with the assembly prove futile as they down his proposals for about eight times.