You are very insolent - Oppong Nkrumah chides Omane Boamah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has chided former Communications Minister in the erstwhile John Mahama administration, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah for speaking ill of the ruler of the Asante Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II after revealing that he [the king] persuaded former President Mahama to concede defeat in the 2016 election.

The Information Minister described his comment as an act of disrespect and denigration to the Asantehene and his Kingdom.

“Omane Boamah was my senior at the Secondary School and he has said something against the Asantehene and I cannot say it on the radio; there was no honour and respect to Otumfuo with regard to what Omane Boamah wrote about him . . . he was very insolent,” he chastised.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, the Ofoase-Ayerebi Member of Parliament insisted it is typical of the youth in the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to rain insults on elders.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in a bombshell remark said it was through his effort that the former President who was unwilling to accept defeat, conceded.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who was speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, said: "at the conclusion of the last presidential and parliamentary elections, the country stood on the edge of disaster. The United Nations representative and the diplomatic community were aghast and alarmed that Ghana was about to slip down the slope of the electoral violence. Fortunately, the moral authority of the palace was at hand. We were able to intervene to persuade the losing candidate to accept his fate and to fly both candidates for a quiet encounter to pave way for a smooth handover."

But the Information Minister maintained that the comment of the Asantehene is not new as he has already mentioned it during his celebration of 20 years on the throne.

“This is not the first time Otumfuo has said this, he said the same thing when we were invited to his 20th anniversary at the Manhyia Palace on live television and perhaps they [NDC] are agitated because he said it on an international platform,” he indicated.

He again indicated that a careful assessment of the speech of the Asantehene reveals that it is what happened in the 2016 election when the NDC led by former President Mahama was not ready to step down.

He alluded his claim to the fact that the NDC held a press conference to announce that they were in a "comfortable lead" immediately after the EC Chairperson had issued a statement that the EC website had been hacked.

The Information Minister, however, wondered why former President John Dramani Mahama is so eager to go back to the Presidency after being successful as “MP, Deputy Minister, Minister, Vice President, President and now former President”.

“Someone will ask that, what at all was around the Presidency that Mahama didn’t want to let go? And, what is it that he wants with the Presidency again that he is still struggling at all cost . . . what at all is he looking for at the Presidency that he wants to go back to?” he wondered.

But in a sharp response, former Minister of Communication, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah has said that the Information Minister is being petty for drawing that conclusion.

Dr. Omane Boamah on his social media handle had written that “Ahead of election 2020 expect more lies against John Mahama” #Bigmencanlie. “Big men too can lie! Oh, Ghana!