THERE WAS drama at the Ashanti Regional office of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi on Wednesday when some angry party supporters stormed the place to invoke curses on some assemblymen in the city whom they claimed took bribes to betray the NPP.
Led by one Emmanuel Boadi, the group, who were mainly youth, used schnapps and eggs to invoke the spirits of three dreaded river deities in Asanteman, including the famous ‘Antoa Nyamaa’ river god, to strike dead the yet to be identified assemblymen.
From the NPP office, Boadi and his group, who were wearing red armbands to display their fury, rushed to a location at TUC, a suburb of Kumasi, where a workshop was being held for assemblymen in the city, and repeated their action with eggs and schnapps.
Boadi alleged that some of the assemblymen in the city collected bribes and voted for Nana Adjei Kesse IV, the Adumhene, who is a government appointee, at the expense of Nana Kofi Senya, the Assemblyman of Suame, who is a known NPP member, during the recent KMA Presiding Member polls.
Nana Adjei Kesse IV topped the polls ahead of Nana Kofi Senya when the assemblymen went to the polls last week, but the Adumhene failed to garner the 94 votes required to become the next Presiding Member (PM) of the assembly. The election was rescheduled to 21 days time.
Boadi claimed that 87 of the newly elected assemblymen, who form a chunk of the total population of the assembly, are known NPP members and so he didn’t understand why Nana Kofi Senya trailed the government appointee after the polls.
He alleged that these 87 assemblymen, whose names he refused to mention, campaigned in the name of the NPP and this helped them (assemblymen) to win, adding that therefore he expected them to vote for Nana Kofi Senya, who is also an NPP member.
Boadi noted that the fact that Nana Kofi Senya could not get even 60 votes after last week’s PM polls was a strong indication that some of the 87 assemblymen who campaigned in the name of the NPP received bribes to betray their party member.
He said the so-called NPP assemblymen have been forgiven for voting against Nana Kofi Senya, but was quick to caution that “if they vote against Nana Kofi Senya again during the next polls then the three river deities should strike them dead.”
Boadi said on paper the assembly election is non-partisan but in reality “the election is partisan,” warning that even Nana Kofi Senya would not be spared by the three river gods, including ‘Antoa Nyamaa’, if he decides to step down for the government appointee.
Nana Kofi Senya, reacting to the issue on Nhyira Fm, vehemently debunked rumours that he instigated Boadi and his group to invoke the curse on the assemblymen, noting that he would not step down from the PM race until the entire assemblymen in the house voted against him.
Kwame Kwakye, Assemblyman for Kwadaso, appealed to the chiefs of Asanteman to mete out a severe punishment to Boadi and his group so as to serve as a deterrent to others, noting that invocation of curses should not be allowed in assembly elections.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi