Two lecturers of the Department of Sculpture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology KNUST are hot over the ‘wrong’ statue of the Chancellor and King of Asanteman, Otumfuo Osei Tutu the II.
The University Relations on Sunday evening was forced to dissociate the entire Sculpture Department from the statue that has been erected at the Kejetia-Central Market attracting the fury of residents.
According to them, the contract to develop the statue was awarded to two senior lecturers in their individual capacities and has absolutely nothing to do with the entire department as claimed by the Consultant of the project on a Kumasi-based radio station
“These are individuals who took the contract themselves. It has no links with KNUST because there is no trace of a document to prove that it was awarded to the Department of Sculpture. They should deal with the matter themselves and leave the department out of the issue”, an official revealed to MyNewsGh.com.
The Consultant for the Brazilian engineering and construction firm, Messrs Contracta Engineering Limited which built the new Kejetia market had disclosed that Manhyia okayed the wrong statue produced at the KNUST sculpture department, hence its unveiling last week.
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“From the beginning of the project we got a green light from Manhyia before we awarded the contract to the KNUST sculpture department. Manhyia was involved in every stage until its completion. Let me tell you we couldn’t have unveiled the statue if Manhyia is dissatisfied with the work,’’ the Consultant explained.
The Consultant was forced to come out to mention the sculptor behind the wrong statue after accusing fingers were pointed at him by some angry residents who are calling for the pull down of the statue.
Residents wondered the kind of supervision from the KNUST sculpture department’s lecturers to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) officials and Manhyia Palace that went into the statue before its unveiling last week Wednesday in Kumasi.
