Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has questioned the timing in which the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) sought to dismiss claims by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II that, former President John Mahama was persuaded to accept defeat in the 2016 polls.

“That was not the first time, I remember very well that Otumfuo said it earlier somewhere and has repeated it, so why did NDC and the former President to respond at this moment”, he quizzed on Kumasi FM’s morning show which was monitored by MyNewsGh.com.

According to Suame lawmaker, it would have been better for NDC as a political party not to respond to the issue at all than to issue a press statement which sought to discredit the revered king.

“I am of the view that NDC should have let things go and be focused”, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu told host, Nana Yaw Mensah Joel during the interview.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly remarked that it was through his effort that the former President who was unwilling to accept defeat, conceded.

Otumfuo explained: “at the conclusion of the last presidential and parliamentary elections, the country stood on the edge of disaster. The United Nations representative and the diplomatic community were aghast and alarmed that Ghana was about to slip down the slope of the electoral violence…Fortunately, the moral authority of the palace was at hand. We were able to intervene to persuade the losing candidate to accept his fate and to fly both candidates for a quiet encounter to pave way for a smooth handover.”

However, a former Chief of Staff under the John Mahama reign issued a statement and refuted the Otumfuo’s earlier assertion, claiming that the former President was never persuaded to concede defeat as was claimed by the Asantehene.