Asogli Youth Demo Against Freddie Blay

By Alberto Mario Noretti

Ho-Bankoe — THE sound of wardrums and battlefield songs filled the precinct of the Asogli Palace at Ho-Bankoe yesterday morning as the youth demonstrated their anger over the recent response by the NPP National Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay's to the address of President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV on the 275 buses saga.

At a media briefing at the palace, Mr. Simon Kofi Ohene, spokesman of the Asogli youth, insisted that Mr Blay's description of Togbe Afede's address as "palm wine business talk" is totally disgusting.

He said that Mr Blay's response was not only derogatory but also disrespectful and insulting.

"We shudder to believe that Mr. Blay implied that the overload of the Asogli State and President of the National House of Chiefs was drunk on palm wine and not in his right frame of mind as he made the remarks on the issue on corruption perception.

"We are further saddened that a person of Mr. Blay's standing, a lawyer, former MP and former Deputy Speaker of Ghana's Parliament could not exercise the least restraint in his response but vituperated such words to denigrate Togbe Afede and the chieftaincy institution.

"We wish to tell Mr. Blay without mincing words that as a lawyer he has little or nothing to show for his career. All we can say about him is that he is a political prostitute, having defected from the CPP after he won his seat on its ticket in the Nzema Elembelle Constituency on the wings of the late President Nkrumah, where people voted for him with the hope that he would carry on with his (Nkrumah's) works.

"We believe Mr. Blay abandoned the CPP because he realised that at a certain point the party was not strong enough to push him to height he had expected," said Mr.Ohene.

The Asogli youth spokesman sought to know if only politicians could resolve the corruption canker and whether traditional rulers, the clergy and civil society could not talk about issues of corruption.

Mr Ohene called on the National House of Chiefs to invoke the Chieftaincy Act to deal with Mr Blay and give meaning to the rule of law.

He said that the silence of NPP activists on the issue pointed to the fact that they endorsed Mr Blay's unguarded utterances.

The Asogli youth spokesman reminded Mr Blay that his wife was recently enstooled queen at the Taviefe traditional area which was under the Asogli Traditional Council which had TogbeAfede as president.

"Since the NPP chairman remains adamant on several calls on him to render an unqualified apology to both the Asogli State Council and the National House of Chiefs, the youth of the Asogli State wish to remind him to do the honourable thing so as not to incur our wrath further," Mr Ohene added.

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