Amnesty International Ghana has tackled Kumasi Mayor Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi’s over his decision to flog traders.
According to Amnesty International Ghana, the traders are Ghanaians trying to survive and deserve dignity, not lashes.
The mayor issued this warning during a press conference on Monday, April 14, 2025, where he outlined plans for a decongestion exercise aimed at clearing traders from pavements and roadsides.
He stated, “I have my own military-democratic style which I will be implementing. When we say leave the space, and you don’t leave the space, and I get there with my boys, we will beat you.”
“In the middle of Adum, if I’m alone, you will be lucky, but if I’m with my ten boys, in their pick-up with their whips, trust me, we will beat you. If you don’t want to experience that kind of situation, do what is right and lawful.”
Emphasizing the need to maintain order in Kumasi, which he referred to as “Otumfuo’s city” and the “garden city of West Africa”, Mayor Boadi asserted his readiness to take decisive action against resistance.
The mayor added, “We have to preserve it. If you want the job to be difficult for me, I will let your body feel the difficulty you are giving to me”.
The mayor clarified that he does not anticipate criticism for enforcing these measures and urged traders to adhere to the regulations voluntarily to avoid confrontation.
Speaking on Joy FM Samuel Nyantakyi, a spokesperson for Amnesty International Ghana stated, “We find the Mayor’s remarks highly irresponsible. Threatening to unleash men to flog traders is not just unlawful—it flies in the face of human rights and democratic governance”.
“There’s nothing democratic about violence or threats of it. These traders are not criminals. They are victims of years of poor planning and political inaction”, he added.
He added, “We understand the need to keep the city orderly, but enforcement must be humane and legal. What we expect from leadership is solutions, not intimidation. These are Ghanaians trying to survive. They deserve dignity, not lashes”.
Meanwhile, Ade Coker, a former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated no NDC person will support the Kumasi Mayor over his decision to flog traders.
According to Ade Coker, lashing people will not work, he urged the Kumasi Mayor to look at the demeanour of John Mahama and work accordingly.
Speaking on Accra-based Asempa FM, Ade Coker stated, “Lashing people won’t work. No NDC person will support him and I have heard that he has revised his notes…Then he can’t be a leader. You must find ways of creating jobs so people can clean the place at night and that is part of the 24hours we are talking about.
He had an idea, but he went beyond. I don’t think that is the character of the person who appointed him. You should look at your leader. The demeanor of your leader and work accordingly. Your leader is not reckless so you can’t be reckless”.
The NDC man further added, “He should build markets for them. We want to see him building the central market and rehabilitating the place and making sure there are other satellite markets where people can go and trade. These ad-hoc measures have not been of help to us in this 21st century.
Go to other countries, and you can even sleep in their markets. So I disagree with what he intended to do. If I had his phone number, I would have called him and told him you don’t sit on national television and say this”, he added.
