The Kumasi Mayor, Hon Samuel Pyne has commended the spirit of volunteerism in the Ghanaian sensational youth group, BusStopBoyz.

He said it was heartwarming to see such a youth group that had specialised in the cleaning of bus stations, market arenas and others for free.

Interacting with the group on Tuesday at the conference hall of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, the Mayor also thanked the group which is made up of professionals from all fields of endeavour for honouring the invitation.

Using two examples from the United States of America (USA) to buttress his point of selflessness, Hon Pyne said it took two individuals to build one of the biggest hospitals and one of the biggest flyovers in America having suffered emergencies in traffic.

Details:

Hon Pyne explained that the man who built one of the biggest flyovers in USA was on his way to work but suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in heavy traffic.

However, having meandered their way through to the hospital eventually, the man was luckily saved, the mayor narrated.

Hon Pyne stated that the individual later decided to donate his fortune to the US authorities to construct a flyover in the area to ease traffic, adding that currently the flyover was among the biggest in the world.

Similarly, the Mayor narrated that the sceond person too had an emergency health issue in traffic and having arrived at a mini-clinic which lacked the capacity to treat emergencies, he decided to donate his fortune in his Will to the city’s authorities to enable them build a bigger and better managed hospital despite passing on afterwards on his sick bed.

Admonition:

Meanwhile, the Kumasi Mayor has admonished the youth group to introduce themselves to city or community authorities anytime they visited so that they could get them to buy into their vision and take their input into their operations.

The Mayor said culturally and ethically it was not good to enter a community and start cleaning or painting their environment when one has no knowledge of the complexities or history of the area.

Using the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II statue in Kejetia for example, he said the effigy has not been painted for a reason, adding that using white paints for the place underneath the statue was also unacceptable because the rocks on same had been fixed that way for a reason.

“I know you didn’t have any idea about what i am speaking to but i believe if you had approached us with this idea we could have collaborated and resourced you better to undertake this laudable course”, the Mayor stated.

Presentation:

In a brief ceremony later, the Mayor presented a box of Wellington Boots to the group as well as an undisclosed amount of cash as support for their initiative.

“Additionally i would entreat your group to keep the partnership with KMA so that you could benefit from the Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative that sponsors such endeavours for a clean environment”, the Mayor noted.

Leader:

Explaining their motive, Oheneba Kwadwo Safo, the leader of the BuzStopBoyz said the group goes into communities with the mindset to clean and make the environments better than how they found same.

He noted that the group was made up of persons of various backgrounds including professional painters, military officers, police officers, fashion designers and electricians among others.

On behalf of the group, the leader commended the Kumasi Mayor for the reception and the support extended to them.

“We are grateful to the Kumasi Mayor and the KMA for showing commitment to our group and for going ahead to provide assistance to us and to seek to build on this partnership to ensure a clean environment in Kumasi”, the leader stated.

Story By Michael Ofosu-Afriyie, Kumasi.