Mr. Eric Amoateng had been arrested in the US for trafficking Heroine. He was arraigned before court and trial had started. We all wanted to hear the ruling and ruling came. Mr. Amoateng was jailed for ten years. The Nkoranza North Constituency seat where Mr. Amoateng was the Member of Parliament became vacant and there was the need for a bye election.
The two main political parties, the NDC and NPP prepared their war machines and literally invaded the constituency for a showdown. I was charged by my Editor to report the bye-election. And so to Nkoranza, I went. The NDC widely advertised on FM stations that Mr. Rawlings, the late former President of Ghana was going to address a mammoth final rally at Nkoranza North. He was to pay courtesy call at the palace of the late Okatakyie Agyemang Kodom, the Paramount chief of Nkoranza Traditional Area which included Nkoranza North Constituency.
When the media went to the palace of the Omanhene, we saw all the sub chiefs surrounding the Omanhene, waiting for the arrival of the show man. Before we could blink an eye, Rawlings arrived. He seemed to be in hurry. He greeted all the chiefs, including the Omanhene. The Omanhene, through his linguist asked Rawlings his mission. When Mr. Rawlings stood up to speak, the Omanhene asked him to sit down and speak. He respectfully refused to sit down and speak to the Omanhene. Mr. Rawlings told the gathering that he was on his way to Nkoranza North where a bye election was going to be held. He said as tradition demanded, he thought it wise to greet the Omanhene before going to Nkoranza North. This was how the Omanhene replied after Rawlings delivery: “Mr. Rawlings, I knew you for a long time and I admire everything that you say and do. You are honest, bold, brave and hardworking. The Constitution says chiefs should not take part in any active politics but the Constitution did not say chiefs cannot advise politicians. If I had a hint that you were coming to campaign at Nkoranza North, I would have advised you not to come and waste your precious time. The NPP foresaw the bye-election coming when Mr. Amoateng was arrested so they started campaigning long ago. The truth is that NDC will lose the bye election. It is a done deal.” A crest- fallen Rawlings thanked the Omanhene for his candid advice and left the palace on his way to Nkoranza North. At the end of the day, the NDC lost the bye election. Meanwhile, it was an open secret that Nana Okatakyie Agyemang Kodom was a sympathizer of the NDC.
Oseadeyo Akumfi Ameyaw is the Paramount chief of Techiman Traditional Area. He is a lawyer, a banker and a traditional ruler. Because of the strategic location of the Techiman township, top politicians who travel from the northern part of Ghana and those who travel from the southern part of Ghana cannot simply pass through Techiman without paying courtesy call at the Ohene Ameyaw Palace. I have followed the exploits of the Techiamn Omanhene for a long time. He welcomes every politician with open arms and speaks with measured decorum and tone anytime he welcomes Heads of State, Parliamentarians, Vice Presidents as well as Presidential Candidates. He will pray for any politician who visits his palace and encourage them to work hard. You will find it very difficult to know which political party he supports. He is unassuming, witty and never belittles any politician who pays him a visit. When he contested the Council of States elections, all the other contestants, which included professors and paramount chiefs stood down for him to go unopposed. Today, because of his humility, he is a Member of the Council of State. You see the reward of humility?
For the first time in living memory, a paramount chief gave a sitting president and his government an ultimatum to complete an ongoing project or face his wrath. The name of the chief is Tobge Adenugaga Fiti, paramount chief of Aflao Traditional Area. The said project, a E-Block was started by John Mahama’s administration. It was at the ground level when Nana Akufo took overpower and today, the project is 96% complete. When the NDC parliamentary caucus on education visited his palace, this man was so bold to tell them that he was happy to see them and that if the government did not complete the project in four months time, he will advice himself. Habba, Togbe is that how to talk? Togbe Fiti said he had to travel to Accra on many occasions to impress upon Mr. Mahama who was the president to start the project but sadly, the same chief did not tell us he travelled to Accra to impress upon Nana Addo to raise the project to the level that the parliamentarians saw when they visited him. What kept him from travelling to Accra to tell Nana Addo his frustration and had to wait for NDC parliamentarians to visit his palace before saying these things? Very sad indeed. Information doing the rounds indicated that Todge Fiti might be a card bearing member of the NDC which is not surprising anyway, and he even promised John Mahama one hundred thousand votes in the 2020 general election.
The president was right when he told the chief in an interview that if he (Togbe) thinks he could complete the project himself, he should go ahead and do so. Like a computer, garbage in, garbage out. Excuse me while I puff a stick of La Gloria Cubana. After all, wetin?
By Eric Bawah