The former head of KNUST’s Political Science Department, Dr. Richard Amoako Baah, has blasted the NPP leadership for failing to control its members in the wake of allegations that Chairman Wontumi, the party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, made disparaging remarks about the Asantehene.
His comments follow the Chief Linguist of Otumfuo, Nana Kofi Owusu, giving the NPP, under the direction of Justin Frimpong Kodua, instructions to present Chairman Wontumi to the Asanteman Council in a week at a meeting held on Monday, January 22, 2024, at the Manhyia Palace.
Wontumi is encouraged to show up in spite of any health issues in response to alleged disparaging remarks made about Asanteman.
Before the Asanteman Council, the NPP delegation—which included Justin Frimpong Kodua and Henry Nana Boakye—asked for Chairman Wontumi to be given more time.
Kodua informed the leaders that Wontumi was not well, “Nananom, we could not come with Chairman Wontumi because he has not been well.”
Otumfuo’s chief linguist, Nana Kwaku Owusu, demanded a medical report for Wontumi, interrogating, “If you assert Wontumi is unwell, where is his doctor’s report?”
However, Justin Frimpong Kodua begged for forgiveness, saying he was unable to produce the needed medical records.
In response to the NPP’s actions, Dr. Amoako Baah stated that an elder, not the General Secretary, ought to have appeared before the Kumasi Traditional Council.
He stated that “I am very sad to see that the General Secretary is the one who is speaking for the party. Yes, he is the General Secretary, but in this instance, it is not appropriate for him to be the one speaking.
“It should be a member of the National Council speaking, with the General Secretary standing beside him because they are older people, they are elders. Don’t they have any Ashanti region member in their rank to speak to this, an elder to speak to this?” he asked.
“What is the work of the National Council? Didn’t they see it? They don’t call him to order? He misbehaves they leave him alone. One person has brought the party down. That is what happening. I have said it before, the young men who have taken over the party are messing it up,” he said on Accra-based Joy FM.
