'Manhyia banned' Kojo Bonsu can't lead NDC - Andy Owusu

An aide to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New patriotic Party, Mr. Andy Owusu, over the weekend cast serious doubt over “the Presidential ambition of one-time disgraced Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Kojo Bonsu.”

In the estimation of Andy Owusu, though he has no interest in the internal political arrangements of the NDC, he sees the former KMA boss as unfit for the position he intends to vie for in the party.

Speaking to newsmen, the Founder and leader of Free SHS movement Group, noted that it was not long ago that the Kumasi Traditional Council banned the then Kumasi mayor from Manhyia, over what they termed as ‘gross insubordination’ to the Asantehene and Asanteman.

According to Mr. Owusu, Kojo Bonsu, in 2016, incurred the wrath of authorities at the Manhyia Palace, following a letter he wrote, questioning the legitimacy of a representative of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in the process involving the yet-to-be completed Kejetia/Central Market Redevelopment Project.

And, after several failed attempts by the KTC to get the former mayor, to appear before them, they then held rituals, killed a ram and used its blood to excommunicate Kojo Bonsu from the palace, a move which subsequently forced him to resign from his post as the KMA boss.

The excommunication tag hanging on his neck will make it highly impossible for the NDC to introduce him to the Asantehene, at Manhyia, should the opposition party elect him as their flagbearer.

“I see the ambition of Kojo Bonsu as laughable because how can he be at Manhyia to introduce himself as a flagbearer of his party when he has been banned from entering the palace…and you know for any government or party to succeed, it needs the backings and blessings of Otumfuo, as well as the Manhyia palace, and in this case of the Mr. Bonsu, he does not have such privilege,” Andy Owusu stressed.

Mr. Owusu continued that “I strongly think Kojo Bonsu is not fit to lead the NDC.”

Disclosing what eventually pushed the embattled former boss of KMA into the NDC presidential race, Mr. Owusu alleged it was as a result of betrayal from former President Mahama, who, according to Andy, had promised to make Kojo Bonsu his running mate going into the 2020 elections.

This arrangement was later secretly truncated by former president Mahama, according to Mr. Owusu. He stated that the former president would either settle on Kofi Armah Boah, former Energy minister, Julius Debrah, former Chief of Staff or Victor Smith as his running-mate.

In spite of the developments, Mr. Owusu stated that Kojo Bonsu still remains unfit for the position he is vying for.