Kumasi Mayor, Richard Ofori-Agyemang Boadi, says the city is buckling under the weight of massive waste generation, with more than 2,000 tonnes managed daily by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA).
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ ThePulse on Monday, September 8, he explained that the challenge stems not only from the city’s residents, who number fewer than 500,000, but largely from the more than two million people who troop into Kumasi each day from surrounding municipalities to trade, work, or conduct business.
“Kumasi’s main challenge is one of waste management, sanitation, security and infrastructure. You understand now that daily, we manage over 2,000 tonnes of waste on a daily basis within KMA,” he noted.
“Kumasi is the heartbeat of trade and commerce. Everyone comes here—from Oforikrom, Asokwa, Kwadaso—to the Kumasi City Market, Adum, and other commercial centers,” he said. “But if you audit those selling on pavements and streets, about 95% of them don’t live within KMA.”
According to the Mayor, while the Assembly collects fees from formal businesses in designated trading areas, hawkers and street traders—who account for much of the congestion and waste—fall outside its revenue system.
“If we attempt to take money from hawkers, it legitimises their activities, which are already unlawful. That’s why they remain outside our revenue mobilisation, even though they generate a significant portion of the waste we struggle to manage,” he lamented.