"Otumfuo is right; NDC discriminates against Ashantis"

Mr. Kwabena Adjei, the 2008 presidential candidate of the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD), which he founded, has said Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, is right in accusing the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of discrimination against Ashanti’s.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, last Saturday, indicated that he was privy to allegations that the Asante’s (natives of the Ashanti Region) are being discriminated against by the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration in the areas of appointments and employment opportunities in the country.

“Asante’s are crying over neglect by the NDC government,” Otumfuo reportedly lamented during a durbar of chiefs and people of Asanteman at the forecourt of the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi during the observation of the 80th Anniversary of the Asante Confederacy.

The Asantehene stated emphatically that if, indeed, the reports and the complaints that he had been receiving were authentic, then his people had done no wrong to merit such discriminatory treatment by the NDC administration.

He stressed the need for the NDC government to be fair to all ethnic groups in the country, including the Asante’s, saying that he only wanted the government to consider people who have the requisite qualifications for appointments, irrespective of their tribal affiliations.

The former RPD Flagbearer has corroborated the Asantehene’s position, saying, “Otumfuo is 100 percent right in his accusation,” he told The Chronicle in a telephone interview.

The RPD founder, siding with the Asantehene, cited his good self as an instance, saying his RPD joined forces with the NDC in the run-up to the 2008 elections, but it has no representation in the NDC government.

Mr. Adjei, also known as Bambata, said his party (RPD) supported the NDC in 2008, following which he was appointed a Board Member of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), but that appointment was short-lived, because he was removed after a year.

“How many Ashanti’s are in the Mahama government?” he questioned.

According to him, the RPD further supported the John Dramani Mahama campaign in 2012, and yet, the NDC government has failed to recognize the RPD’s efforts, because it has been founded by an Ashanti.

The RPD founder, however, was quick to state that the Mills-led NDC was far better than the Mahama-led administration, in terms of involving Ashanti’s in the running of the government, pointing to the sidelining by Dr. Oteng Adjei in the current administration.

Mr. Adjei noted that the stand of the government will affect the fortunes of the NDC at the 2016 elections, because the RPD might withdraw its support for the NDC.