Anger in Kumasi as city authorities erect ‘wrong’ Asantehene’s statue

Some residents within the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs have taken to the airwaves to express disgust over the statue of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II positioned inside the multi-million dollar new Kejetia Market.

They argue that the sculpture does not represent the true image of the Asante King, adding that it has marred the beauty of the state-of-the-art edifice.

According to them, the statue represents another person and not their King who has ruled the Asante Kingdom for twenty years.

Their disappointment came after the statue was unveiled on Wednesday during the inauguration of the new Kejetia market with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in attendance.

Some radio commentators and serial callers who also called into the various radio stations monitored by MyNewsGh.com questioned why the KMA officials didn’t ensure that due diligence was done before the unveiling of the statue on Wednesday saying such a blunder is unforgivable.

They questioned the kind of works that went into the design of the sculpture blaming the sculptor and city authorities of doing a shoddy work.

The statue which has the inscription describing the Asantehene’s image dressed in rich Kente with some gold ornaments was wrongly spelt.

Instead of ‘enstoolment’ explaining his year of reign, it was wrongly ‘enstolement’.

They called for severe punishment for the sculptor and the Engineer for such an embarrassment and putting the Asante Kingdom into public ridicule.

They suggested the sculpture be pulled down and new one put up to prevent the Asantehene and government officials in charge of the New Kejetia Market from being ridiculed publicly.

The inauguration of the first phase of the Kejetia/Central Market Redevelopment Project in Kumasi attracted hundreds of people including the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, the Asantehene, diplomats, market women and men, politicians among others.

The new market provides facilities such as police station, fire installations, clinic, school, waste management system, bus terminal and more than 9, 000 stores.

The market was constructed by Brazilian engineering and construction firm, Messrs Contracta Engineering Limited).