The Asante Youth Association has condemned the National Democratic Congress for what they described as attempts to use their ‘political gains’ to destroy the Asante Kingdom.
Their comments come on the back of a press statement released by the office of former President John Mahama denying the involvement of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu in his decision to concede defeat in the 2016 polls.
The Director of Operations for the Association, Nana Oppong Boadu called on former President John Mahama to dissociate himself from the press statement released by Mr. Julius Debarah.
According to him, failure to retract the statement and apologise within 48 hours will have dire consequences for John Mahama and the NDC in the Ashanti Region
“We are giving John Mahama 48 hours to come and retract that he didn’t instruct Julius Debrah to issue that statement. Other than that we are going to make the Ashanti Kingdom a hostile place for himself and his party,” Nana Oppong Boadu stated.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu in a speech at the United Nations conference over the weekend made claims about his intervention in the 2016 General elections, persuading the losing candidate to accept defeat, a claim which has been vehemently denied by the NDC and the office of President Mahama.
The claims by the Asantehene was also met with some backlash from some section of the public, most NDC sympathizers.
However speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News, the Director of Operations for the Asante Youth Association expressed disappointment over the attempt of some political leaders to downplay the relevance of the Asantehene in the country’s democratic process.
In extolling the virtues of the Asantehene, Mr. Boadu added that any attempt to use the name of the Asantehene for political expediency purposes will be met with fierce resistance.
“It is very sad that the king has raised the bar and the flag of Ghana and Asanteman and this is how we are paying back. Even if the King erred, this is not the way the NDC should have responded because we have all seen the role the Asantehene has played in our elections, we have seen it. The King has played so many roles in our democratic dispensation, we cannot allow the NPP or the NDC to use their political gains to destroy our kingdom,” he argued.
