Members of the Kumasi Traditional Council have been called to a crucial meeting, which, according to Joynews sources, will decide the fate of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.
The embattled Chairman Wontumi has been on the wanted list of the second-highest decision-making body of the Asante Kingdom, whose membership is limited to traditional leaders.
Members of the Kumasi Traditional Council on Thursday, January 22, 2024, directed the NPP, led by its General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, to produce Chairman Wontumi to appear before them over alleged derogatory remarks against the Asantehene.
It follows an altercation between Mr. Antwi Boasiako and the Kokosohene, Nana Kwaku Dua, at the recent vetting of parliamentary aspirants in the Ashanti region.
Though Chairman Wontumi has denied the accusations, he was invited by the traditional council for a hearing, an invitation he failed to honor on health grounds.
Subsequently, the NPP national leadership, which appeared before the Council to plead for more time, was directed to ensure Chairman Wontumi made an appearance within one week.
A few hours after Wontumi Media rendered an unqualified apology to the KTC over derogatory comments attacking the integrity of Nananom by a prominent lawyer on the company’s media platforms, another news report published on www.wontumionline.com alleged the Asantehene had directed the Kumasi Traditional Council to discontinue hearing the case
Sources at the Manhyia Palace dismissed the report.
The Council would reconvene on Monday, January 29, 2024, to deliberate on what could be the decider of the fate of the embattled ‘Chairman Wontumi’.
An invitation letter signed by the Registrar of the Council, Kwame Adusei Agyemang, inviting Nananom to reconvene for the meeting read in part, ”Greetings Nananom, this is to respectfully inform you of the Kumasi Traditional Council’s sitting scheduled for Monday, January 29, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. prompt. Please endeavor to attend.”
Despite failing to honor Nananom’s invitation on health grounds, Mr. Antwi Boasiako was spotted in the Bantama Constituency during the NPP’s Parliamentary Primaries on Saturday, January 27, 2024, where he told journalists he was healthy.
It is not clear if Chairman Wontumi will be in attendance at Monday’s meeting.
Sources at the Manhyia Palace say the traditional rulers would take a decision with or without the embattled Chairman Wontumi in attendance.
The Kumasi Traditional Council, the largest traditional council in Ghana, is the second-largest decision-making body after the Asanteman Council. Chiefs from 77 suburbs of Kumasi are members.
Acting President Bantamahene, Baffuor Owusu Amankwatiah VI, is expected to hold the fort for the overlord of the Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who missed the last meeting.
