KMA gives Osei Asibey Antwi overwhelming CEO approval
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) Friday overwhelmingly endorsed a private businessman, Osei Asibey Antwi, as its new Chief Executive Officer.
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He won 132 out of the 133 YES valid votes cast with one rejected ballot from a 146-member assembly.
The election was the smoothest ever in the assembly at least, in recent times, following a series of chaotic attempts in the last two years.
Mr Antwi, a former Deputy Minister of the Ashanti region during President John Agyekum Kufuor’s regime and the First Vice Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the region, succeeds Mr. Kojo Bonsu.
Days to the elections, there were rumours of ‘backdoor’ cajoling and lobbying by NPP bigwigs and some assembly members to fast track and give him a 100 percent endorsement.
Indeed, the assembly in the interest of the region and to kick-start stalled projects following the resignation of the former CEO, Kojo Bonsu, and a litany of litigations that preceded it, did not wait for the 21 required days after the announcement to endorse Osei Antwi.
In an electrifying atmosphere and choked auditorium, an elated Osei Asibey Antwi promised to restore the dignity of Kumasi market women especially those who sell on various pavements in the city.
He assured them of a dignified arena for them to ply their trade and work with all stakeholders to complete the Kejetia and other satellite markets.
Mr Osei Asibey Antwi who is expected to deliver his first sessional address to the assembly next week Friday, touched on peace building, governance and diplomacy as he strived to restore sanity into one of Ghana’s chaotic assemblies.
He called for the strengthening of the various sub-metros and tackling Kumasi’s sanitation and waste management menace.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah pleaded with members of the house for a ‘new beginning’ and to put the interest of Kumasi at the ‘apex’ of the assembly’s agenda.
He assured the new Chief Executive Officer of his unflinching support to build a new Kumasi to drive the sub-region’s economic revival.