NPP mourns Asantehene

Accra (Greater Accra) 8 March '99

The new Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday appealed to the Asanteman Council to ensure a peaceful transition as it deliberates on a successor to the Golden Stool. This was contained in a statement issued in Accra on the death of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware the second on February 25. The statement expressed the party's condolences to the Asantehemaa, the Royal Oyoko family, Kumasi Traditional Council and Asanteman Council. "Painful as Otumfuo's passing away is, we are consoled by the fact that he endeared himself to all and sundry as a worthy ambassador of Ghana and personified all that is rich and revered of our traditions and culture. It said the Asantehene so blended tradition with style that he ably symbolised Ghana's rich cultural heritage with the challenges of modernism. "He conducted himself with such dignity, rising above factionalism and partisan politics as required by the Constitution that he was indeed a King and father to all in Ghana. "As an apostle of peace and reconciliation, Otumfuo's leadership qualities, which saw him through 29 years of occupancy of the Golden Stool, is surely a challenge to the institution of Chieftaincy as it faces the challenges of the pristine and the modern, and partisanship and national unity."