Former Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, has strongly criticised recent comments made by Kumasi Mayor, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, who threatened to flog traders violating the city’s ban on pavement trading.
Boadi announced a two-week decongestion exercise set to begin on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, targeting traders operating on pavements and other unauthorized areas within Kumasi’s central business district. He warned that traders who defied the directive would face corporal punishment.
“If I am alone, you will be lucky. But if I have my 10 boys in their pick-up with me and their whips, trust me, we will beat you,” Boadi declared.
Reacting to the comments, Mr. Osei-Mensah denounced the mayor’s approach, asserting that Ghanaian law does not permit flogging as a means of enforcement.
“There’s no law supporting it,” he stated during an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu.
He further urged authorities to consider more humane alternatives to address the issue of street trading, such as providing designated areas for vendors to operate lawfully, rather than resorting to threats and violence.
When asked whether he would have taken a similar stance during his time in office, Mr. Osei-Mensah firmly responded, “No,” signalling his clear disapproval of the mayor’s tactics.
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