Chiefs raise issues with Asoma-Cheremeh's nomination as BA Minster
Sunyani Traditional Council has expressed reservations over the nomination of Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh as the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister designate.
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According to the chiefs, they will not give Mr Asomah-Cheremeh their support should his nomination be approved by Parliament.
At a press conference held at the palace of the Omanhene in Sunyani yesterday, and addressed by the Krontihene of the area, Nana Bofotia Boa Amponsem II, the council accused the nominee of inciting the people against the authority of the chiefs and said it could, therefore, not collaborate with him if he became the regional minister.
“While we cannot stop him from becoming a regional minister, what we are saying is that we cannot be part of his administration.”
Nana Amponsem stated, however, that the doors of the council were open for an amicable settlement of the misunderstanding existing between the council and Mr Asomah-Cheremeh, who is the current Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Impasse
In the heat of electioneering towards the 2016 general election, the Omanhene of the Sunyani Traditional Council was quoted to have said that the then ruling NDC would gain 80 per cent votes from the Brong Ahafo Region.
That pronouncement displeased NPP supporters in the region, and in a rebuttal at a press conference, Mr Asomah-Cheremeh stated that “the authority of the Omanhene of Sunyani is subject to so many questions and for that matter his power is limited.”
That statement by Mr Asomah-Cheremeh did not go down well with the traditional council which, therefore, summoned him to appear before it and explain what he meant by that statement.
Mr Asomah-Cheremeh, however, refused to honour the invitation, stating that “refusal to attend to a call by a chief is no longer an offence.”
In addition, he said he could not comply with the request contained in the letter he received from the council, since the council by its press conference had already reacted to his statement.
Press conference
Even though the Sunyani Traditional Council initially declined to allow the then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to pay a courtesy call on the Omanhene of Sunyani, Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri, when the party launched its campaign in Sunyani because of the matter, it later softened its stance and received him.
Nana Boa Amponsem has, however, stated that contrary to the notion that the matter was resolved during Nana Akufo-Addo’s call on the Omanhene, the matter was still not settled.
He said even though the Council of Elders of the NPP in the Brong Ahafo Region later took over the matter and impressed on Mr Asomah-Cheremeh to honour the invitation of the council for amicable resolution of the matter, he refused to do so.
According to him, the Council of Elders came back to the palace with two bottles of Schnapps to wash their hands off the matter.
“Because of his conduct and behaviour, we wish to make it categorically clear that the Sunyani Traditional Council, its president, queens and all chiefs under the Omanhene cannot work with Mr Asomah-Cheremeh as the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister.”