Former Minister of Information, Mr. Asamoah Boateng says he might launch legal proceedings against the Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa Doe, for her alleged insults on his personality.
The former NPP MP for Mfantseman West says he intends seeking counsel with his lawyers following which the Regional Minister will have to prove that he (Asabee) is mentally unstable as she claims.
Hon. Ama Benyiwa Doe felt the former NPP MP must be “mad” to say that she instigated his “sacking” from a funeral ground and recommended psychiatric evaluation for him (Asamoah Boateng) during interviews on various radio stations including PeaceFM.
Asabee, as the former MP is affectionately called, expressed surprise that a “regional minister” and “role model like Ama Benyiwa Doe” could go on air and blatantly lie to Ghanaians.
According to him, his presence was loudly announced by the crowd at the funeral because they started shouting his name.
“When I got to the funeral grounds, quite a sizeable crowd followed me, with some shouting out my name so it is surprising the Minister is saying she did see or even hear of me,” he narrated to PeaceFM News.
He added that the MC at the funeral grounds also announced his presence and that is what drew the attention of the security operatives who prevented him from greeting even when the family of the deceased had sent someone to meet him.
“The Mfantseman MCE, Nii Ephraim even came to greet me and he was walking with Benyiwa Doe so it is very unfortunate that Auntie Ama is claiming she did not notice my presence,” he added.
On Saturday, October 9, Asabee was allegedly 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.
According to reports, 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 Mfantseman 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 narrated.