Former presidents have regretted ignoring my counsel – Asantehene

The Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II has stated that his counsel to former presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufour, the late John Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama which were not heeded to cost them during their tenure of office.

According to the King of the Ashanti Kingdom, the former presidents came back to him lamenting that things would not have gone the way they did if they had listened and acted based on some pieces of advice he offered.

“I had interactions with former presidents and they admitted they should have paid heed to my counsel. Rawlings and Kufour were here, I spoke with Mills ten days before his demise and he said the same thing. Shortly after his term ended, President Mahama was here and he mentioned he ignored a number of things I counselled him on which he has paid dearly for,” he said this while cautioning President Akufo-Addo to be wary of backbiters amongst persons he has surrounded himself with.

The president paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace, during the commencement of his three-day tour of the Ashanti Region.



Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has assured Asanteman and Ghanaians that the pledges he made during the electioneering period are pledges that will be fulfilled before his tenure ends.

According to him, the fulfilment of these pledges remain the surest way to creating jobs and wealth for the people of Ghana, as well as returning the country to the path of progress and prosperity.

“I made a lot of pledges during the campaign. We have started fulfilling them. The Free Senior High School policy will commence from September 2017. So you should know that what I said during the campaign was not political talk. Yesterday, in Parliament, the ‘Asempa’ budget became law. The Appropriations Act has been made, so there is financial provision for Free SHS in the budget,” he said.

The President continued, “Ghanaians should know that I did not lie to them during the campaign, in order to get their votes. Whatever I said I was going to do, I will do.”

“We said we were going to reduce taxes, which had become a burden on businesses and was stifling productivity. We said were going to reduce import duties on imported spare parts. The first budget has removed taxes on imported spare parts in our country. We have also abolished a number of other taxes,” he added.