Regional News of Thursday, 3 November 2022

Source: Mensah B. Ruth

#BenAsanteMustGo: Ellembelle DCE must apologise to Freddie Blay and others - Former executives

Ellembelle District Chief Executive, Kwasi Bonzoh Ellembelle District Chief Executive, Kwasi Bonzoh

Some angry former constituency executives for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ellembelle district of the Western Region have descended heavily on Kwasi Bonzoh, the Ellembelle District Chief Executive (DCE) for allowing some party members to demonstrate against Dr. Ben Asante, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Gas Company. On Sunday, October 30, 2022, some angry supporters identified as Kwasi Bonzoh boys protested against Dr. Ben Asante at Atuabo during the climax of the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council's annual Kundum festival. Speaking to the media before the demonstration, a member of the Ellembelle NPP Constituency Communications Department and a diehard supporter of Ellembelle DCE, Yannick Akrowie stated that Dr. Ben Asante has been denying them opportunities to work at the Ghana National Gas Company. He also claimed that in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, Dr. Ben Asante sponsored skirt and blouse voting against Kwasi Bonzoh who was the Ellembelle NPP Parliamentary Candidate to lose miserably and called on President Akufo-Addo to sack Dr. Ben Asante as Ghana National Gas Company CEO. But in a statement to the media, the immediate-past Ellembelle NPP Constituency Secretary, John Nwolley condemned the teeming supporters of Ellembelle DCE for staging a demonstration against Dr. Ben Asante, the CEO of Ghana National Gas Company. "We condemn those that were involved in such disrespectful behaviour towards the chiefs, Freddie Blay, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and Dr. Asante, and at the same time, advising them to learn their mistakes and say to themselves that 'never again' so that we can all move forward in unison to break the "8", the statement stated. The statement emphasised, "We thank the Nzema youth for their love, care, and sacrifices they made in such an emergency to avert the unforeseen from happening for which the festival was nearly brought to an abrupt end by the thugs". The statement is, therefore, calling on Ellembelle DCE, Kwasi Bonzoh to render an unqualified apology to Freddie Blay, Kennedy Agyapong and Ellembelle as a whole for rallying behind his boys to use the durbar grounds of Eastern Traditional Council 2022 Kundum festival to demonstrate against Dr. Ben Asante. "Are you not ashamed to have organised and supervised your boys to insult the CEO on social media platforms, demonstrate against the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, Freddie Blay and the Board Chairman of Ghana National Gas Company? And now hiding and asking your boys to apologise to redeem your image? "Noted! but 'do the do' by apologising to your political mentor (Freddie Blay), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, whose durbar grounds you pushed your boys to commit the criminal acts and find ways to redeem the image of our party in the Ellembelle Constituency from yet another defeat before you put the blame on innocent people for supporting skirt and blouse," the statement demanded. Read below the full press statement: THE SUCCESS STORY BEHIND DR BEN ASANTE AND FREDDIE BLAY IN ELLEMBELLE, ELLEMBELLE DCE MUST APOLOGIZE TO THEM We are amazed by the behaviour of some few faceless people who are calling themselves aggrieved party members of Ellembelle towards the paramount chief of Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, the immediate-past National Chairman of our party, Freddie Blay and the Board Chairman of Ghana National Gas Company, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong during the recently organized Kundum debar. We thank the Nzema youth for their love, care, and sacrifices they made in such an emergency to avert the unforeseen from happening for which the festival was nearly brought to an abrupt end by the thugs Now, to the so-called party members who are shrieking for the dismissal of Dr. Ben Asante because he is not given them jobs. Even though enough is not enough, we have had a proportional share of the recruitment at Ghana National Gas Company which was facilitated by Freddie Blay and Dr. Ben Asante. We acknowledge the fact that more of our youth should be employed at Ghana National Gas Company, but what we need to do as party members is to eschew bitterness, selfishness and individualistic tendencies and make use of available connections and linkages within the party as in power, to secure good jobs rather than envying and pulling down the few deserving and successful ones who have toiled from scratch to get to where they are now. Doing so will earn you nothing but just digging a hole to fill the sources of drinking water that most people have been drinking to quench their thirst. From experience, we don't want to blame you guys because we know your actions are being engineered by the usual 'Kwaku Ananse' who for greed, will always want to lean his ladder on innocent party members and climb on them to get what he wants and afterwards, pretends he doesn't know anything about that. We condemn those that were involved for such disrespectful behaviour towards the chiefs, Freddie Blay, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and Dr. Asante, and at the same time, advise them to learn from their mistakes and say to themselves that 'never again' so that we can all move forward in unison to break the "8" We want to unequivocally state that nobody should take them seriously for they are being misled by a certain individual in the constituency for his parochial interest. As former Constituency Executives of the NPP, we witnessed how Dr. Asante contributed in cash and in-kind to champion the 2016 campaign and how he constantly advised us to unite and win the seat. Unfortunately, the Constituency had already been divided by the same people, so we continued to fight amongst ourselves, insulting big men including Freddie Blay just in a similar way which they are attacking Dr. Ben Asante, to the extent of even saying he supported skirt and blouse? Abaaa! Are you not ashamed to have organised and supervised your boys to have insulted the CEO on social media platforms, demonstrating against the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, Freddie Blay and the Board Chairman of Ghana National Gas Company? and now hiding and asking your boys to apologise to redeem your image? Noted! but "do the do" by apologizing to your political mentor (Freddie Blay), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and the Eastern Nzema Traditional Council, whose durbar grounds you pushed your boys to commit the criminal acts and find ways to redeem the image of our party in the Ellembelle Constituency from yet another defeat before you put the blame on innocent people for supporting skirt and blouse. Long live Dr. Ben Asante! Long live Freddie Blay! Long live Kennedy Ohene Agyapong! #tag Dr. Ben Asante must stay Signed! 1. John Nwolley Former Constituency Secretary of Ellembelle NPP 2. Amonle Amartey Former NPP Communications Director, Ellembelle constituency.