Simon Osei Mensah, the Ashanti Ashanti Regional Minister, flanked by Osei Assibey and Elizabeth Agyeman, during the press conference
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, has descended heavily on former President John Dramani Mahama, saying the former president has the penchant for insulting people.
He lambasted Mr Mahama for allegedly insulting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo without provocation during the Unity Walk organized by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kumasi over the weekend.
He said Mr Mahama stated that the Akufo-Addo administration had not attached “sense” in the ongoing fight against illegal mining also known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
According to him, “Mr Mahama should rather be apologizing to his party sympathizers for the humiliating defeat he suffered in the 2016 elections but not to gain notoriety in insults.”
Mr Osei Mensah recounted numerous occasions that Mr Mahama hurled insults at New Patriotic Party (NPP) members without justification, warning that the ex-president must act properly as a statesman.
Addressing a press conference in Kumasi on Wednesday, the Ashanti Regional Minister stated that “the former president has the penchant for insulting. This is not the first time he has used such words.”
He added, “When he was a parliamentarian, he insulted Hon. Osei Kwame Prempeh and all Ashantis in relation to the use of the queen’s language. Others include the use of baloney on NPP parliamentarians.
“He also said Ashantis are ungrateful and if you even construct their roads with gold they won’t appreciate it, just to mention a few,” the minister revealed, adding that Mr Mahama’s ought to desist from such practice.
He said: “Saying that the NPP government did not attach sense to the fight against ‘galamsey’ was in bad taste.
He urged all and sundry to condemn Mr Mahama’s comments.
He quizzed: “Has Mr Mahama forgotten what he did to some small-scale miners in the Ashanti Region, especially Mr. Antwi Boasiako, aka ‘Wontumi,’ pouring acid into the engines of his excavators and also burning others.”
“Did he execute the exercise with sense during his time, if yes, why did he fail?”
He called on the former president to address his party members as a true statesman.
“We expected him to tell Ghanaians about the social intervention programmes that he introduced as president and the roads that he constructed in the Ashanti region, rather than hurling insults at Nana Akufo-Addo”.
According to him, Ghana’s development stagnated under the non-performing Mahama administration, noting that the citizenry are very happy with the positive performance of the current Akufo-Addo administration.
“Power crisis, bad road networks, a weak cedi, high inflation rate and other bad deeds were the hallmark of the previous Mahama administration, the NPP government has worked to restore hope to Ghanaians,” he added.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr & Ernest Kofi Adu, K’si