Lawyer Maurice Ampaw has criticized energy minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for his recent comments suggesting that Ashanti support for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) could be secured solely by distributing party T-shirts.

Lawyer Ampaw branded the minister's comments as nonsensical and disrespectful, maintaining that every community deserves development, regardless of political affiliations.

Speaking on his Mmra Ne Abrabo Mu Nsem on Wontumi TV on May 28, 2023, Ampaw opined that the minister's chances of becoming a vice president had been damaged by his ill-advised statement.

"For you to come and say that Ashanti people only like T-shirts, what do you mean? They don't like development. What kind of nonsense is that, what kind of nonsense is that Napo... for you Napo, your vice president issue has been dismissed, go and sit somewhere,” he exclaimed.

He further suggested that the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum should be considered for the vice-presidential role instead. He praised the Bosomtwe MP as being "blessed by God" and proposed that he should lead alongside Vice President Bawumia to ensure a victory for the NPP in future elections.

“Now, it is the minister of education who is reigning for the position. When you look at the man you can see that he has been blessed by God, so we should give it to him to lead and pair Bawumia, and let's see how the victory will come,” he added.

Napo’s controversy originated from a campaign platform event in Kumawu, where he was captured on tape addressing party supporters. In the viral video, he assured them that the Ashanti Region, a stronghold of the NPP, would continue to vote for the party, emphasizing that the distribution of NPP T-shirts would be sufficient to secure their support. Napo's remarks stirred debate and raised concerns about the party's approach to voter engagement.

"If we cannot organize campaign rallies, let's use our money to print T-shirts and distribute them to our party faithful and everyone – after all, our NPP T-shirts are beautiful, and I don't think anybody will be wearing them and go and vote for another party,” he stated

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Kofi Abrefa Afena, has appealed to the general public to ignore deliberate distortions of Dr. Prempeh’s comment on the need to distribute New Patriotic Party (NPP) branded T-shirts to voters in the Ashanti Region during the 2020 electioneering campaign.

He explained that the statement of Dr. Prempeh had been maliciously taken out of context by his detractors to make it look like Dr. Prempeh took the voters for granted.

“Dr. Prempeh said the NPP is an attractive party. Therefore, if COVID restrictions would not allow for mass rallies, it was only wise to use the available resources for retail campaigning and printing NPP T-shirts. Dr. Prempeh continued that Ghanaians naturally love the NPP; therefore, T-shirts in the wake of the restrictions would make the people feel part and parcel of the campaign.”







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