United Progressive Party founder Akwasi Addai (Odike) has alleged that the chauffeur of Asante monarch Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was among some “thugs” from the Manhyia Palace who attempted to assassinate him a few days ago.
Odike’s office in the Ashanti Region was ransacked days after he alleged on a local radio station, Oyerepa FM that the Asante chiefs were watching aloof as illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers) ravaged the region with their operations.
He told Kofi Oppong Asamoah on Friday, 26 August 2022 on the Class Breakfast Show that he was merely reiterating a similar concern expressed publicly by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II during a forum organised by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources several months ago.
According to Odike, however, the chiefs in the region are not ready to hear the truth.
“My office has been ransacked, thugs from Manhyia came to kill me but God saved me that day”, he told Kofi Oppong Asamoah, adding: “Four bullets [were fired] and you know what, the driver of the king was part of the thugs who came and I told them [chiefs]: we’ve been traumatised by the thugs’ action, so, they should give me two weeks to recover before I can come to them for whatever apology or whatever” but “they didn’t agree, saying that I should come to Manhyia latest by Monday”.
“What kind of society are we building?” he wondered.
In his view, the chiefs, who are the custodians of the traditions and customs of Asanteman, are going wayward and need to be brought back on track.
“We revere and respect nananom. They understand the traditional norms but these days, they want to depart from it and that is the problem, because of their parochial interest”, he noted.
“Not everything that nananom are doing now conform to our traditional norms. They sometimes err and they don’t want to accept this. This is the challenge we have now”, he said.