Former District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Ahafo-Ano North District Assembly in the Ashanti region, Mr. Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, has mounted pressure on the Chief Linguist of Tepa Traditional Area, Nana Kwame Poku, to retract comments he made against Ghanaians during the recent visit of President John Dramani Mahama.
President Mahama was in the Ashanti region for an official visit on Friday, June 19, 2015 where he and his entourage visited the people of Tepa.
During the visit, the Paramount Chief of Tepa, Nana Adusei Atwenwaa Ampem, and his linguist, poured libation to the gods to ‘kill’ anyone who would become a hindrance to the 2nd term presidential bid of the president.
The Starr FM online radio was reported to have quoted the linguist as saying, “may the wind kill anyone who stands against your (President Mahama) second term bid.”
But in a worded press statement signed and issued by Mr. Prempeh and copied to Today in Accra, he called on the linguist to, as a matter of urgency, retract such “obnoxious” statement and apologise to Ghanaians, particularly the various political parties which will be contesting President Mahama.
According to him, the said story, purportedly stated that the linguist, Nana Kwame Poku, wondered why people should oppose the second term bid of President Mahama when both John Agyekum Kufuor and Jerry John Rawlings were given a second term by the people.
Mr. Prempeh stressed that as a former district chief executive (DCE) and presiding member, he was indeed saddened by that particular statement as it took away the shine of what "our dear chief said during the president’s visit."
"What to me is more disheartening is when the overlord, the King of Ashanti, Otumfou Osei Tutu II has expressly cautioned against invocation of curses by his subjects, this linguist impudently went contrary to such directive, a move I consider an affront and an insult to the Golden Stool and the people of the Ashanti Kingdom.
"....I, Hon. Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, am giving the linguist a 24-hour ultimatum for him to retract and unreservedly apologise to the Tepa Traditional Council, all citizens of Tepa, the Asanteman Council as well as all prospective presidential candidates for the 2016 polls," he further stressed.
Consequently, Mr. Prempeh appealed to the Tepa Traditional Council to, as a matter of urgency, come out and openly distance itself from what he described as an “irresponsible comment,” and if possible sanction the linguist for dragging the name of the Council into disrepute.
To this end, he called on President Mahama to condemn any move by any individual or group of persons who would fight against the smooth running of the country’s democracy.
