Following
what the Chief of Agona Duakwa, Nana Kojo Amuakwa V, describes as “disrespect”
and “disgrace” to the Agona Duakwa stool, he has banned the Member of
Parliament (MP) for Agona East Constituency in the Central Region, Mrs.
Queenstar Maame Pokuah Sawyerr from campaigning in the town and its surrounding
communities.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP
who is seeking re-election is said to have alleged paying some monies to the
chief for a development project to which the chief failed to do.
Nana Kojo
Amuakwa V has subsequently denied receiving any such money from the MP.
According
to him, all chiefs, sub-chiefs, and elders of Duakwa lands have been instructed
to ensure that nobody allowed the MP, her supporters, or agents to engage in
political campaigns on their lands.
Press
conference
Addressing
a press conference at his palace to announce the directive last Thursday,
October 1, 2020, which was well-attended by representatives from smaller towns
and communities, Nana Amuakwa V noted that any chief or elder who
flouts the directive would be traditionally sanctioned.
He said
“for the disgrace poured on my person, my ancestors, I swear by my oath of Nana
Kojo Amoakwa’s Tuesday and hereby say that nobody should take this matter
lightly and that anybody who goes against the directive must know the
seriousness of the matter at hand.”
The Chiefs and elders who attended the event were
clad in red and black cloths apparently to register their displeasure about the
conduct of the NDC MP.
At the
end, libation was poured and a sheep slaughtered to give traditional backing to
the directive banning the MP from engaging in political activities at Agona
Duakwa and its 41 smaller towns and villages.
Circumstances
that lead to the ban
Touching on the circumstances leading to the MP’s
ban, Nana Amuakwa V said that in the first week of December 2019, Duakwaman was
informed that Mrs. Sawyerr had made a public statement at Agona Dukwa that she
gave an amount of GH¢20,000 and additional GH¢2,000 to him [Nana Amuakwa]
for the rehabilitation of the town’s refuse dumps.
He said
that he had not received such money from the MP and therefore the statement
amounted to defamation of his character which was duly reported to the elders
at a meeting held on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at his palace.
He stated
that after the meeting, Opanyin Kofi Mensah, an NDC executive member was sent
to inform the MP to appear before Duakwaman to discuss the matter, adding “for
over three months, she never honoured the invitation and by a letter dated
March 23, 2020, which was copied to the NDC Constituency Chairman and the NDC
Central Regional Chairman, we formally invited her to the palace on 15th April,
2020 for a discussion”.
“Per
another letter dated 2nd May 2020, we sent a reminder to the MP advising her
that our meeting had been rescheduled to Saturday, 30th May 2020 at exactly
4pm,” he indicated.
He
stressed that on Saturday, May 30, 2020, Mrs. Sawyerr sent her executives to him
but he told them that they had not offended him in any way and that they should
return and inform the MP to come to the palace herself.
He
pointed out that on August 11, 2020, his lawyers wrote to the MP, delivered the
letter at Parliament House and a copy at her residence at Kwanyako and till
date Mrs. Sawyerr had not bothered to respond to the invitation.
Action
disrespectful
He stated
further that Mrs. Sawyerr has shown gross disrespect to his person for refusing
to respond to their several invitations and that she must understand that her
comments amounted to defamation of character which is a serious offence.
“She has
disgraced me as a chief and by extension my ancestors and the people of Duakwa
and that if she does not respect my position as a chief, I also cannot respect
her as an MP” Nana Amuakwa noted.
MP
reacts
When
Graphic Online contacted Mrs Sawyerr for her reaction, she noted that she had
not received any official communication from the chief to the effect she had
been banned from campaigning in the area.
She said
“as the sitting MP for the area, I cannot be banned from going to any community
and that it was only the leadership of Parliament that could ban her from going
to some communities in her constituency.”
-Graphic Online
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