Asantehene Advises Party Leaders Against Negative Pronouncements

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has appealed to political party leaders to desist from engaging in acts and pronouncements that seek to breed acrimony and divide the people in the country. He said insults and insinuations would not in anyway help in the development of the nation. The Asantehene made the appeal at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Wednesday, during a courtesy call on him by Professor John Evans Atta-Mills, flagbearer of the NDC. Professor Atta-Mills, who was accompanied to the Palace by a large number of leading members and supporters of the party, was to show himself to the Asantehene and Asanteman and also to dispel the rumour that had been circulating that, he is seriously ill and therefore could not continue as the flag bearer of the party. Otumfuo emphasised that what the people were looking for was how there could be more jobs for the people, especially the youth to do, improvement in education, health care delivery, agriculture and the development of the private sector. He reminded political party leaders that none of them could solve all the challenges facing the nation during their tenure of office and there was therefore, the need for them to explain to the people, how they could tackle some of the challenges. This, the Asantehene said would help convince the people to vote for them and not the casting of aspersions on their opponents. Otumfuo Osei Tutu advised Professor Atta-Mills and the leadership of the NDC to try to identify what went wrong that made the people to vote them out of power, package their messages very well and convince the people on why they should be voted back to power. He said the main goal of every political party was for the development and improvement in the lives of the people and there should be a conscious effort by all parties to promote peace and unity to ensure the speedy development of the nation. The Asantehene pointed out that multi-party democracy was necessary for national development and advised all political parties to engage in civil campaigning in order to reduce tension and possible conflicts in the run-up to the December general elections. Professor Atta-Mills thanked the Asantehene for showing respect and love for all political parties in the country and said his pieces of advice had helped the growth of democracy in the country. He said what the country needed was peace and unity among the people to ensure development. Professor Atta-Mills reiterated that, he was not dead as was been peddled by some people and was working hard to win the 2008 elections.