Attacks on Otumfuo unhealthy – Government

The Akufo-Addo government has condemned the “unhealthy” discourse surrounding the recent UN General Assembly speech delivered by Asante monarch Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in which he touted the role his Palace played in resolving political tensions between the two main parties right after the 2016 general elections.

The Otumfuo said at the UN General Assembly meeting recently that: “At the conclusion of the last presidential and parliamentary elections, the country [Ghana] stood on the edge of disaster”, the revered Asante monarch told the UN General Assembly recently about the important role traditional leaders play in the political and democratic dispensation.

“The UN representatives and the diplomatic community were aghast, alarmed that Ghana was going to slip down the slope of electoral violence.

“Fortunately, the moral authority of the palace was at hand. We were able to intervene to persuade the losing candidate to accept his fate and fly both candidates for a quiet encounter to pave the way for a handover,” he recounted.

Both the governing New Patriotic Party (NDC) and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have either held press conferences or issued statements on the traditional leader’s assertion.



Speaking on the matter on Wednesday, 18 September 2019 at a press conference, the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said: “Even if the truths may be unpalatable to you, the government’s view is that we should not be attacking and running down traditional authority or the Otumfuo especially; particularly for politicians who every now and then will have to be brought together by these same traditional rulers.”