Comments allegedly made by the Senior Advisor to the President, Yaw Osafo-Maafo on Asantes not being part of Ghana’s struggle has been described by the Bantama Youth Association (BYA) as appalling and distasteful.
They are calling on him to retract the statement with immediate effect.
The BYA at a press conference Wednesday, June 22, 2022 branded the Senior Advisor’s comments as irrational.
Their comments follow a secret tape recording in which Mr. Osafo-Maafo is heard making some ethnocentric comments against Asantes.
In the said tape which has recently gone viral, the former Finance Minister during a meeting with some delegates of the New Patriotic Party in the Eastern Region, questioned the contribution of Asantes to Ghana’s liberation whilst touting the Akyems as having led the fight for independence.
He has been under heavy criticism following the publication of the secret recording.
But the BYA in reaction to his comments said the Akyems contribution towards the formation of the ruling NPP is meagre.
Spokesperson for the group, Kwame Awuah Nimfour was disappointed with his comments and described the alleged audio as reprehensible and odious.
“We are not surprised that the contents of the alleged audio are coming from Yaw Osafo-Maafo. We are aware he has a history of making supposedly tribalistic comments. He is however shocked that the Asantes will not be drawn into an issue that is purely partisan and should not be tribalized,” he said.
He wondered why the former Senior Minister will expose himself for attacks by making the comments which he is alleged to have made.
“Hon Yaw Osafo-Maafo is a tribal bigot. And I don’t understand why he opens himself up for insults from many people including the youth. If you are dealing with your party issues in your region, why must you attack Asantes,” he asked.
In a related development, Mr. Awuah Nimfour used the medium to express his disappointment with the MPs in Ashanti Region who have done nothing to improve on the infrastructural development in the region.
“We have 47 Members of Parliament from Ashanti Region and none of them is helping in the development of the region. Our MPs have disappointed us and if they do not change their style we will pick our members to contest the various constituencies in the 2024 elections. We will petition the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on this development”
He mentioned some projects captured in the Economic Policy and Budget Statement of the government which have not started.
“The government promised some projects like the Suame Interchange, Airport Roundabout flyover and others in the region and work has not started on those projects and our MPs are not doing anything on it”.
By: Benjamin Aidoo|TV3|Onuaonline.com|Ghana
