Politician denies 'arrogant' claims, says he is down to earth
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, appeared to have found himself in a very difficult situation during his interview on The Delay Show as he was confronted with questions about why the party lost the Fomena seat to an independent candidate.
Andrew Asiamah Amoako who was an incumbent Member of Parliament on the ticket of the NPP returned to Parliament as an independent candidate. A disagreement between him and the Fomena constituency NPP executives led to a premature exit from the house as his seat was declared vacant by then-Speaker, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye.
The internal wrangling informed his decision to not contest the NPP primary to select a candidate. Mr Asiamah Amoako rather contested the 2020 general election as an independent candidate and won.
He polled 12,805 votes while Philip Ofori-Asante of the NPP garnered 10,798 votes.
His victory has elicited concerns with some suggesting that regional executives failed to do the needful, a reason the party lost the seat.
In an interview with Delay monitored by GhanaWeb, Chairman Wontumi as the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP is affectionately called, indicated that it was erroneous for anyone to insist that Mr Asiamah Amoako’s victory had nothing to do with his affiliation to the NPP.
“He is not just an independent candidate. Sometimes, people try to pick what’s on social media as reality. That’s not the case. The truth is that the constituency chairman brought his friend as the candidate. So, they have an issue and when the love is not there, the hatred will automatically take over,” Wontumi said.
The politician insisted that NPP did not lose the Fomena seat. Aside from his argument that Mr Asiamah Amoako’s victory was due to the projects he did in the constituency as an MP on the party’s ticket, Wontumi mentioned that if indeed NPP lost the seat, the party wouldn’t have a majority in parliament.
“You won on the ticket of the NPP during the previous election. Every project was done in NPP’s name. If he goes independent, does it change anything? If you put a log into water, does it change into fish?” a proverbial Wontumi said.
“So, you mean he won as an independent candidate but he’s an NPP. Is that what you’re saying?” Delay questioned to which Wontumi responded, “you’ve said so.”
As Delay attempted to probe further, Wontumi interjected saying, “Woman, not every question deserves to be answered.”
Meanwhile, Chairman Wontumi has refuted claims he has failed as a leader. According to him, NPP won the presidential elections due to the votes it garnered in the Ashanti Region.
"Wontumi is loved in Ashanti," he insisted, stressing that he will be retained as Regional Chairman.
