The unyielding posture of the Asanteman Council in respect of its call to President John Mahama to remove Mr Kojo Bonsu as chief executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), which eventually led to the mayor resigning from office, was baffling, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, managing editor of the New Crusading Guide, has said.

Mr Bonsu was forced to step down as mayor of Kumasi on Tuesday July 12 after intense pressure from the council following his failure to respond to their summons over the Kejetia Lorry Park Redevelopment Project in the city.

Despite Mr Bonsu’s apology to the traditional rulers for his conduct, the Asanteman Council remained resolute in its position not to cooperate with him in the metropolis, communicating to the presidency to have him replaced or see the KMA’s projects in the Garden City stalled.

But commenting on the development, Mr Baako, who had wished to “maintain silence on the matter” because of the deep respect he had for the Asantehene and head of the Asanteman Council, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, expressed his discomfort with the path taken by the chiefs.

He said even though Mr Bonsu’s actions were probably “not tactful” and “not strategic enough”, he had a problem with traditional authority issuing an ultimatum to the president and setting a timeline for which that ultimatum should be fulfilled.

“…I find it very difficult to reconcile myself with this situation. You can express your displeasure with an appointee of the executive but to say…that if he didn’t resign the traditional council or authority will frustrate implementation of projects…that they will stall development projects, I find it difficult to accept that situation,” the veteran journalist said on Newsfile on Multi TV Saturday July 15.