Kumasi — The Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Madam Patricia Appiagyei, has mounted a strong defense against the accusations by some residents in the metropolis that the assembly was responsible for the low turn out, because of the infamous decongestion exercise undertaken by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), which deprived many residents in the city off their means of livelihood.

According to the KMA boss, the allegation was unfounded and unsubstantiated, because the exercise performed by the assembly, was in response to overgrowing concerns expressed by residents in the city, and was also meant to improve business activities in the metropolis.

Many hawkers and taxi drivers in the metropolis were said to have boycotted last Sunday's elections, because of the inhuman treatment they suffered at the hands of the assembly during the decongestion exercise and the constant harassment by personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, and the KMA city guards.

The hawkers argued that the assembly caused destruction to their properties during the exercise, while the commercial drivers said their businesses were being disrupted by constant pestering by police personnel, and the KMA city guards.

They, therefore, threatened that until the Chief Executive Officer of KMA comes out to render an apology to them, they would not cast their votes.

However, the City Mayor said she found the allegation rather strange, since for the past one year or so, the hawkers had been going about their normal duties on the streets of the metropolis, without any hindrances.

She said beside that, city guards and police personnel had been instructed to stick to their core duties of maintaining vehicular traffic, and avoid harassing commercial drivers.

Reacting to the allegation on Kessben 93.3FM in Kumasi, and in a later interview with The Chronicle, Mama Pat, as she is affectionately called, said the assembly could not be blamed for the decongestion, since the exercise was a national one, embarked upon, not only in the Ashanti Regional capital, but the other regions too.

She, however, asked the people in the metropolis, particularly supporters of the ruling party, to put everything behind them, and desist from apportioning blame on any individual or authority.

"This is no time to point accusing fingers at each other, or blame any authority for our misfortunes, what is important is that we must all put our differences aside and work hard against our common enemy, which is the NDC, and make sure they do not come back to power to disrupt the country's economic gains," she stressed.

She stated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had stepped up its propaganda machinery to discredit the ruling party, and brainwash voters with their lies and dirty campaigns, cautioning that until supporters of the ruling party remain united and fight the NDC, they would continue to spread their negative messages.

Mama Pat stated that some NDC supporters were going about inciting Fante indigenes in the Metropolis against the people of Ashanti, because the people in the Central Region failed to vote for the NPP.

This, according to her, was a ploy by the NDC to sow seeds of discord between the people of Ashanti and the Fantes, and by so doing, win votes from the people in the Central Region.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Chief Executive has disclosed that the Assembly had proposed to build a 2,500 capacity hawkers market at Krofrom, to accommodate traders in the metropolis who do not have places to conduct their businesses.