Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang
Legal practitioner and media personality, Samson Lardy Anyenini, has issued a strongly worded open letter to the Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, cautioning him against the use of brute force in his planned decongestion exercise.
The Mayor, during a press conference on Monday, April 14, announced that the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) would commence a forceful decongestion operation on Wednesday, April 16, targeting traders who have occupied pavements and roadside spaces in the city.
He claimed that previous strategies—such as arrests and seizure of goods—had failed to deter the traders, who consistently return in defiance of city by-laws.
He blamed these traders for the worsening congestion and growing disorder in the city centre.
However, Samson Lardy, who is also the host of Newsfile on Joy News, did not take kindly to the Mayor’s tone or threats.
In his open letter, he wrote:
“Dear Kumasi Mayor, ‘beat[ing]’ traders to remove them from those ‘pavements’ or streets is assault.
That’s a crime.”
He reminded the Mayor that the Ghanaian Constitution strictly prohibits cruel treatment, even for those who break the law:
“Even if you arrested them for offending some national or KMA law, Article 15 of our Constitution forbids you and your ‘10 boys with whips’ from subjecting them to torture, cruelty, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Lardy emphasized that human dignity must be upheld, regardless of the situation:
“You must not subject them to ‘any condition that detracts or is likely to detract’ from their dignity and worth as human beings.”
In closing, he made a clear and bold point:
“In this democracy of RULE OF LAW, we don’t resort to lawlessness to check lawlessness, sir.”