Sun City Project takes off at Kumasi Race Course

An impressive ceremony has been performed by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to mark the commencement of the Sunshine City project, which is designed to transform the Race Course area at Bantama into a viable commercial centre in the Kumasi metropolis.
The project, dubbed Sunshine City-Kumasi, with facilities which include the construction of a 25,000 metre square capacity shopping mall, banking halls, insurance and travelling tours, as well as restaurants, is being undertaken by a South African-based Ghanaian business tycoon, Mr Robert Kwaku Appiah Asante.
Other facilities that would be developed at the Race Course Area are a clinic with a helipad, ambulance station and a five-star hotel.
The project is expected to transform Kumasi to regain its former glory as the ‘Garden City of West Africa’ and create job avenues for the unemployed youth.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu donated the Race Course area free of charge to the developers as his contribution to the development of the Kumasi metropolis.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Opoku Manu, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Archbishop of the Kumasi Catholic Diocese, Rt Rev. Thomas Kwaku Mensah, the Anglican Bishop, Rt Rev. Daniel Yinka Sarfo and the Bishop of the Kumasi Diocese of the Methodist Church, Rt Rev. Professor Osei Sarfo Kantanka, were among the dignitaries who witnessed the sod cutting ceremony.
In his address, Otumfuo Osei Tutu commended Mr Asante in particular and Kenbert Group company for initiating the project and gave assurance of his support and that of the entire chiefs of the Kumasi Traditional Council.
He pointed out that the project would not only enhance the development of the Kumasi metropolis and its environs, but would also offer employment opportunities to the youth.
He explained that donating the land for such a viable project was in line with his effort to support the development of the metropolis.
He mentioned the Otumfuo Educational Fund, which has helped a section of the youth to build their capacity in various fields in medicine and law, and said his contributions to health-related issues was also enhancing the primary healthcare delivery.
He said the project was one of the programmes of ensuring that the city’s development agenda for a better standard of living for the metropolis was achieved and called on traders who used to operate at the Race Course area to co-operate with the developers by vacating the area to enhance the smooth take off of constructional projects.
In his address, Mr Asante, who is also the Chairman of Kenbert Group, said the Sunshine City is a replica of a similar facility in Johannesburg which has become a major tourist attraction .
He gave assurance of the early completion of the project as part of his contribution to boost the tourist potentials in the country, and called for support from the residents in the successful execution of the project.
He also appealed to chiefs in the Kumasi traditional area to offer him the needed support and protection as a way of motivating him to complete the project on schedule.
The Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Samuel Sarpong, assured those who operate their business at the Race Course Area that efforts were being made to provide them with an alternative area.