Claims by Presidential Advisor, Nana Yaw Osafo-Maafo that the people of Ashanti made no contribution towards Ghana’s independence fight has been branded as irrational by a sub-chief of the Ashanti Kingdom, Nana Kwame Mensah Bonsu.
According to the Nana Bonsu who is the Ahene Nana Hene of Asantehene Nana Otumfuo Osei Tutu, it is an act of insanity for Mr Osafo-Maafo to suggest that the people of Akyem led the fight for Ghana’s independence while seeking to belittle the contribution of Ashantis.
“He is mad, very mad. Just tell him that he is mad. I say he is mad, what would Kwame Nkrumah also say? I am asking you. If he claims their grandfathers fought for independence what will Kwame Nkrumah also say?
“If Ghanaians have to be grateful, we should be grateful to Ako-Adjei. He was the one who went and brought Kwame Nkrumah. Ako-Adjei was the one who brought Kwame Nkrumah. If we are to give all the credit to Akyems for the fight for independence it means we won’t have to appreciate all the other tribes; Northerners will not be mentioned, Ashantis and all the others,” he fumed during an interview on Power FM.
His comments follow the publication of a secret tape recording in which the presidential advisor is heard making some ethnocentric comments.
In the said tape which has recently gone viral, the presidential advisor during a meeting with delegates of the New Patriotic Party in the Eastern Region, questioned the contribution of the Ashanti people while touting the Akyem tribe as having led the fight for independence.
Mr Osafo-Maafo who was speaking to the delegates ahead of the NPP’s recently held regional elections entreated the delegates to vote for an Akyem candidate while emphasizing the contributions of the tribe to the party.
But while referring to history in his reaction to the comments, Otumfuo’s sub-chief argued that Akyems had little to do with the formation of the NPP which is now the ruling party.
“The NPP he joins, was it the Akyems who formed it? NPP is not for them, they don’t know anything about its formation.
“Their UNC where did it go? Where did it travel to? When we vote how many votes does the NPP get from Akyem? Humans are just ungrateful. After a hungry man has been fed, they tend to lose their sanity,” he added.
Nana Yaw Osaf-Maafo has been under heavy criticism following the publication of the secret recording.
A lot of his critics have made reference to another leaked tape in 2016 where Mr Osafo-Maafo during a similar meeting with NPP delegates was captured alluding that Akans deserve to rule over other ethnic groups in the country.
His argument was that Akan areas are resource endowed than other ethnic groups in the country.
