A group of Ashanti professionals have expressed their displeasure about a recent comment made by a Communications Officer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Solomon Nkansah, in which he sought to denigrate Ashantis as a people.

During a recent radio interview, the NDC propaganda secretary was reported to have said “every shameless act related to politics comes from Ashanti Region. They have gained more notoriety when it comes to politics. Every ill-fated political demonstration comes from them and nothing good comes from the region. Had it not been for their recognised and well respected King, they would have been insulted all the time.”

That was after a group of disappointed elderly women staged a demonstration against government over the harsh economic conditions in the country.

In a statement, however, the Ashanti Professionals Club (APC) said Solomon Nkansah’s comments were “symptomatic of condescending behaviour towards Ashantis and a reflection of a deep seated dislike for the benign attributes of warmth, compassion, forbearance and magnanimity that characterise the people with allegiance to the Golden Stool” since according to them, they were undoubtedly designed to provoke and incite tribal vituperations.

“It seems Solomon has limited appreciation of history, but more worrisome is his skewed and dense education. For it is only a reprobate and obtuse mind that would fail to acknowledge the glorious contributions of Asanteman and its people to the socio-economic and political development of this nation,” the statement signed by Vincent Frimpong Manu and Kwabena Owusu-Mensah said.

Instead, they noted, “we can tell that the women who staged a demonstration in Kumasi to show the difficulties they are experiencing nowadays need sound answers from mature communicators of a ruling government.”

Leadership of the APC wondered where Solomon Nkansah was when countless demonstrations were staged by people from different walks of life in other regions, asking rhetorically, “how can a permitted non-violent demonstration by innocent women in the Ashanti Region spark such attacks on the people of Asanteman where he seeks to attain one million votes in 2016 elections?”

Resolve

“Through our King, we have resolved in these contemporary times that we wage war on illiteracy and poverty to attain higher education, economic development and social welfare for our people. Solomon Nkansah should not for a moment misconstrue the tolerance, neighbourliness, loving-kindness and hospitality of Ashantis as a weakened Ashanti Kingdom and take undue advantage to use Ashantis, and sometimes Akans, to pursue tribal politics. If they do not see this as a danger to the stability of Ghana, then we do not intend to turn our back on the Golden Stool,” they emphasised whilst indicating their resolve to defend the Golden Stool, Asanteman and its enviable heritage any day, any time.

“Let him be reminded that Ghana is currently in the throes of a simmering discontent fuelled by cascading effects of bad governance, mismanagement of resources, incompetence in economic management, wanton spending and unbridled corruption. Yet, Solomon and his ilk would console themselves with making statements that find no resonance in dealing with the avalanche of issues for which he seems clueless in addressing,” they added.

Disappointment

They could not fathom why nobody in his party, the NDC, has thought it wise to rebuke him for making such despicable tribal comments, saying, “let it be known to Solomon Nkansah and his likes that they may gain some political advantage from such tribal politics in the short term but in the long run, it will fall flat.”

Furthermore, the APC said “it is important for Solomon Nkansah and people in his bandwagon to be reminded that since the days of the British, the Kingdom of Ashanti and its people have suffered much persecution and disdain. Yet, like the porcupine, the Kingdom and its subjects have remained ever vibrant, industrious, relevant, dynamic and undaunted.”

The statement further stated, “let Solomon Nkansah and his likes be reminded that the Ashantis of yesteryears, whose accolade is ‘warriors’ with the wokum apem a, apem beba slogan, are still the Ashantis of today. We have won wars, we have conquered nations and have successfully preserved our heritage even in the midst of westernisation. If being proud speakers of our language, spenders of our hard earned wealth, display of our proud culture and our industrious nature make people like Solomon Nkansah uncomfortable, we can only say sorry.”

“May we urge Solomon Nkansah and those who share similar sentiments in his political party, the ruling NDC, to invest a bit more time and energy in engaging in a deep thinking exercise capable of birthing some novel solutions to our teething problems. The people of Asanteman, like all Ghanaians, deserve to see the realisation of a true better Ghana, not an unwarranted and desperate attack on their rights to exercise their freedom of speech,” the group said.

The APC has since asked the NDC to render an apology to the chiefs and people in the Ashanti Region and Ashantis in general.