Former information Minister, Stephen Asamoah Boateng aka Asabee was last Saturday sacked from the funeral grounds of Nana Essandoh Okese VIII, the late Omanhene of Nkusukum Traditional Area in the Central Region, seemingly on the orders of the Central Regional Minister Ama Benyiwa Doe, who observed the episode with a gleeful grin.

The cheers and ovation that greeted Asabee’s arrival at the funeral abruptly ceased when he was physically stopped by policemen present, who explained that they were acting on instructions of ‘Madam’. He was not even allowed to present funeral donations and gifts he had prepared for the bereaved royal family on Saturday and therefore had to travel back to present the donations yesterday, Sunday.

Mr. Asamoah-Boateng, until last year, was the Member of Parliament of Mfantisiman West, the constituency in which the funeral was being held; and though he is a distant relative of the late chief, he was ordered by the policemen to leave the funeral grounds unless he could provide an invitation card to show that he had been officially invited.“Even when Nana Akwa II, the Secretary of the Funeral Planning Committee told the police that we had been invited so we should be allowed to do what custom demanded of us at a funeral, they still refused and said Benyiwa Doe was representing the President and because she was seated, we cannot greet the chiefs, as they were acting on instructions from above and that ‘Madam’ had spoken so we should either obey or be forced to obey.

“Asabee then asked at least that he should be allowed to go alone to greet the chiefs as tradition demands but true to their words, the police guys physically prevented him from greeting the chiefs or paying his last respect to the late Omanhene who he is related to. Asabee was not also allowed to go and present the gifts he had at the funeral or even to pay his funeral donation. He was simply not recognized. Meanwhile other guests that arrived later were all recognized and given an opportunity to present their donations,” Charles Quayson, an eyewitness who arrived at the funeral with Asabee, narrated.

When Asabee was contacted, he confirmed the report and said he went to the funeral both as a former MP for the area and a grandson of the late chief.“My problem is not with the chiefs because they did their best but the police would not listen since they had been ordered. One of my grandfathers, Ekwo Crencsil, comes from that house so I have a lineage there and I have had a very good relationship with the late Omanhene. Until he passed on, I was still visiting him in the hospital and doing what was expected of me.“It is sad that they would say because the President’s representative was seated, I cannot greet the chiefs or even present my gifts. I have represented President Kufuor at numerous funerals where after I was seated, guests were still allowed to greet when they arrived,” Asabee noted.

When news went round the Mfantsiman West constituency that Asabee would attend the funeral, several groups from different parts of the constituency trooped there to welcome him and indeed followed him to the venue, as they drummed, danced and shouted his appellations and nickname.

Reports say the incumbent MP for the area, Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, on hearing of Asabee’s arrival and seeing the crowd following him, swiftly fled the funeral grounds, prompting remarks from one of the chiefs that the MP seemed afraid of his own shadow.

In recent times, infantilism and pettiness has apparently taken a better part of the thinking of some government officials, as they seize every opportunity to prevent leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from being recognized at traditional festivals and other outdoor functions.

Not long ago, Nana Akufo Addo, presidential candidate of the NPP, was prevented from greeting chiefs at the Oguaa Afahye festival in Cape Coast, and reasons given by the Government’s Communication Team was that Nana Addo and members of his entourage were reeking of alcohol when they arrived at the festival grounds and moreover he was too short to have been recognized by the chiefs.

A similar episode was repeated at the Odwira Festival at Akropong in the Eastern region when Nana Addo was stopped by the police from exchanging pleasantries with the chiefs and government representatives, as traditional demands.