Asante United Front warns encroachers

Kumasi, June 5, GNA - Asante United Front (AUF), a pressure group in Kumasi, has cautioned individuals, organisations and groups against taking decision for and on behalf of Asanteman without first seeking authorisation and approval from the Asantehene.

It said under no circumstance should any group assumed the responsibility to fight for Asantes without conferring with the Golden Stool, which is the embodiment of the soul of the Asante nation.

A statement issued in Kumasi and signed by Opanin Kwame Afreh, Chairman of the AUF, in reaction to a proposed demonstration in Kumasi by some group which call itself Patriotic Citizens to demand their fair share in the national cake, said the Asantehene was the head of all Asantes worldwide and that no group of persons had the right to champion the interest of Asantes without his expressed approval.

It said by virtue of his unique position, the Asantehene was above politics and should therefore not be linked with any insurrection that tends to bring the Golden Stool into disrepute.

The statement said the intended demonstration to be staged in the name of Asantes was a bad precedence and a recipe for coup d'etat as disgruntled elements in the society could take advantage of the situation to make the region ungovernable.

It therefore appealed to the organisers to reconsider their decision.

It said in as much as it was their constitutional right, the organisers did not have the licence to use Asante as a terrain to cause breach to public peace and possible mayhem in the region. The statement urged the media to refrain from inciting the public against the policies of the government since the practice could plunge the nation into chaos and derail the developmental agenda of the government.

It said the ruling New Patriotic Party has been given a four-year mandate to rule the nation and should therefore be allowed to work within this time frame.

The statement, however, cautioned the government to sit up and not allow few disgruntled and opportunists within it to run it down. 05 June 05