Wontumi incurs wrath of Nananom as Chiefs upset over no show at Council meeting
The chiefs and elders of the Kumasi Traditional Council expressed displeasure and anger over the failure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, to appear before them on Monday.
Chairman Wontumi had been summoned by the Council for allegedly making disrespectful remarks about the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, during the vetting of parliamentary aspirants in Manhyia South.
However, he did not attend the Council meeting, citing health reasons, and sent a delegation led by the NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, also known as JFK, to plead on his behalf.
JFK explained to the Council that Chairman Wontumi, who had returned from a trip to China, was on admission at a hospital. He requested a two-week extension for Chairman Wontumi to honour the invitation.
“I got a notice a short while ago that Baffour Kantankrankyi said I should call him. Truthfully, I called him. When I did, he told me to present ‘my child’, the regional chairman, before the chiefs of the Ashanti kingdom. I immediately called the chairman to relay the message, and he told me he was on his way to China and that when he returns he will show up. And so last week Thursday, I called Nana Samaahene and informed him that the chairman has come back and so just as was said the last time, if God permits and if there is room, on Monday, we would want to come and fulfil your request of his presence before you so we could discuss what needs to be discussed. Nananom, with all due respect, yesterday on my way here from Accra, then my chairman called me and said he is at the hospital, on admission and that he is not well. When he said that, I said oh, I am already on my way to Kumasi, if that is the case, he should let me have a doctor’s report, so I can present it to the chiefs when I come here today. But as time approached for my meeting with the chiefs, I hadn’t received the report. And I also decided, I was not going to wait for the report before I come before Nananom. So Nananom, this is the case now.” JFK humbly said.
However, the Council was not convinced by JFK’s explanation and demanded a doctor’s report to prove Chairman Wontumi’s health condition. The council also refused the 2-week ask and instead gave a 7-day ultimatum.
An elder of the Council angrily responded after JFK had delivered his message, saying:
“This sickness chairman claims he has and thus is on admission, is not understandable. He is not sick. He is not sick. How many hours does it take to go to China and back? He is not well. And the two weeks you are asking for, what kind of illness is it? Is it malaria? Typhoid? How do we give him excuse duty if we do not know what is wrong with him? So if you ask for two weeks, it does not work! We are serious here. He is beginning to make Nananom angry! We have to tell him. He has bitten more than he can chew. What do you mean you are unwell? He has to come here for the things he has said, so that we discuss the matter, and then we tell him what we have to tell him. He is not truly sick. It is fake! If he is indeed sick, he should prove it. So to us, he is not ill, and as such he should come here in the next seven days!”
The Council, led by Bantamahene Baffour Owusu Amankwatia VI, insisted that Chairman Wontumi must appear before the Council on Friday, January 29, even if he is dying.
The Council also summoned Lawyer Maurice Ampaw and the management of Wontumi Multimedia to explain why they used their airtime to insult the chiefs during a programme on Wontumi Radio and TV.
The NPP delegation present immediately distanced the party from the comments by Lawyer Ampaw and assured the Council that it would ensure Chairman Wontumi honoured the invitation.
Chairman Wontumi’s health excuse and his failure to provide a doctor’s report have cast doubt on his sincerity and his willingness to face the Council and apologise for his comments.
tigpost.co
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