Kyebi issues three-day ultimate to NDC leadership

The Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council has called on the hierarchy of the opposition National Democratic Congress to render an unqualified public apology to the Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II and Okyeman as a whole within three days.

The council said the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC, Mr Kwame Zu should personally render an apology to the Okyenhene and offer a public recantation of the offensive words and specific conduct complained off.

In addition to this, the NDC should invoke appropriate disciplinary sanctions of the party against the conduct of Mr Zu.

According to the traditional council, should the NDC choose to ignore these pronouncements and demands, “Nananom will not accord them any future request for clemency and redemption of their customary transgression”.

“If they fail to heed, the NDC, its ward executives, branch, constituency, regional and national executives will be banned from all official functions organized under the auspices of the Ofori Panin Stool and shall be declared Persona non grata in all palaces of the 940 towns, villages and settlements”.

“Nananom have further decided that any chief who violates these orders, once passed would have acted in aberration of his oral and written oath and will in consequence suffer destoolment,” said the council.

Reasons
On Monday, September 16, 2019 at a protest organized by the Coalition for National Sovereignty in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional secretary Mr Kwame Zu reportedly made unsavory remarks against the people of Akyem Abuakwa and the person of Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin.

The remarks which have not gone down well with the people in the area led to a massive demonstration at Kyebi Monday morning.

The demonstrators clad in red and black attires, chanting war songs amidst firing of muskets carried placards some of which read “Okyeman needs respect”, “we will not sit down unconcerned for our king to be insulted”, “NDC respect our king our pride”, “We love Okyenhene”, “NDC insulting Okyenhene is unforgiveable” among others.

The demonstrators later converged at the forecourt of the Okyeman Palace where a ram was slaughtered to register their anger and cleanse what they describe as the dirt that has been smeared on Okyeman and the Okyenhene.

Press Conference
Addressing the press conference later after the demonstration, the Akyem Abuakwa State Secretary Mr Daniel Ofori-Atta catalogued a number of pronouncements by the hierarchy of the NDC in the past.

These include alleged attacks on the personality of the Okyenhene by Mr Julius Debrah, former Chief of Staff; Mr Tawiah Boateng former Eastern Regional Chairman of the party; Mr Haruna Apau Owiredu a former parliamentary candidate; and Mr Stan Dogbe, an aide to former President John Mahama as some NDC top personalities who between 2012 and 2016 had attacked the Okyenhene.

It said over the past 20 years Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin has distinguished himself as an icon of the transformational and visionary leadership in traditional authority and governance and has had the privilege of knowing and working with ex-President Rawlings, former President Kufour, late President Mills, former President Mahama and now Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo - these personalities Osagyefuo accords respect without exception.

Kyebi water project
According to Mr Ofori-Atta, Kyebi has had pipe borne water three clear years before the independence of Ghana and that under Kyebi water expansion project initiated by former President JA Kufuor and completed in 2011 by late President JEA Mills and commissioned by President Mahama in 2012 before the presidential election.

On the comment of Mr Zu, he found it as incendiary and condemnatory and that the “politics of our country must reflect the morality of our people. Political leadership have a responsibility to live above reproach and desist from conducts likely to result in the moral and social degeneration of our society, particularly the youth”.

“What we want is a competitive politics of ideas and not the debase politics of ethnocentrism, hate and insults. It is an unwelcomed reinforcement of the growing public exception that the party endorses such anti-social conduct. That the party now holds this institution in contempt. We want their presidential candidate to know that Ofori Panin Fie and the NDC had no issues under his predecessors, namely President Rawlings and Mills. They respected this house and were not shy to show it. We are therefore very concerned by what is happening under the current NDC leader’s watch”.

“Nananom do not want to believe that this affront to the dignity of Okyenhene by a high-ranking officer of the party reflects the low measure of dignity the NDC holds the Ofori Panin Stool and the chieftaincy institution in general,” Mr Ofori-Atta added.

He said the actions and specific conducts of Kwame Zu represented an unprecedented assault “against our unity, customs, traditions and peace as a nation”.

Mr Ofori-Atta said democracy was designed to improve lives and not to denigrate and tear Ghanaians apart.