Some 26 Eastern Nzema divisional chiefs and queen mothers who recently held a press conference to support the re-nomination of Kwasi Bonzoh, the incumbent Ellembelle DCE, have denied being members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
They insist the NDC tag put on them by Mr Bonzoh’s saboteurs is ridiculous, and should be disregarded by all well-meaning Ghanaians.
As custodians of the land, the chiefs say their core mandate is to promote development, and will therefore support any individual or government with that vision and agenda. They say the most important thing after general elections is development and not wasting precious time tagging people falsely with NDC, NPP, CPP or PPP colours.
Wondering whether President Akufo-Addo is a president of only NPP members and not all Ghanaians, the chiefs urged Mr Bonzoh’s saboteurs to come again.
Support
The chief of Ampain and spokesperson for the group, Nana Nyamekeh Fofolle, stressed that support for the hard-working DCE is for the good of Ellembelle . Reacting to the allegation against them on a local radio interview, he asked Ghanaians to critically analyse action by the chiefs and that of ‘the NPP saboteurs’ and come out with their own verdict as to which of the two groups has good intentions for the governing party.
“All discerning Ghanaians should judge between the alleged NDC chiefs pushing for Ellembelle’s development and those NPP executives who vigorously preached ‘skirt and blouse’, voting against their own party’s parliamentary candidate, and state which of us support the Akufo-Addo government,” he stated.
Reports indicate that Nana Nyamekeh Fofolle in 2017 led some of the chiefs, together with Freddie Blay, the NPP National Chairman, to the presidency to lobby for nomination of one Stephen Donkor as Ellembelle DCE.
No malice
Mr Donkor, now deputy Community Affairs Manager at Ghana Gas, unfortunately did not secure majority votes from the assembly. The Ampain chief is also said to be one of the opinion leaders who vigorously lobbied for the reconstruction of the neglected Nkroful road under the Akufo-Addo led NPP government.
He reiterated that the chiefs have nothing against other party members contesting the DCE position, but prefer Mr Bonzoh who has distinguished himself as a hardworking man in the last four years .
Again, he said the chiefs had monitored Mr Bonzoh’s works in their respective communities and know what “the young, dynamic and visionary DCE is capable of doing”.
He added, “the devil you know is far, far better than the angel you have never seen.”
Nana Nyamekeh Fofolle used the platform to commend Awulae Amihere Kpayinli, the paramount chief and president of the traditional area, for exonerating all the chiefs pushing for Mr Bonzoh’s renomination.
By distancing the paramountcy from support for Mr Bonzoh in a counter press conference, the spokesperson said Awulae had really exonerated the chiefs from unnecessary attacks by those accusing them of doing so in the name of the traditional council.
