Politicians revere Otumfuo Osei Tutu II
Otumfuo has stated that ‘dumsor’ has destroyed all his electronic appliances
Otumfuo is the 16th Asantehene
The overlord of the Ashanti kingdom, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, is one of the most powerful traditional rulers in the country and beyond.
Not only does the Asantehene exude royalty as the region he oversees is endowed with natural resources, he is also a well learned person. To this end, many add “King Solomon” to his appellations.
It is for these reasons that politicians seek the face of the Asantehene before embarking or taking critical decisions.
The comments of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II indeed make politicians and his subjects quaver to find cover.
Here are top 3 comments of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II that have sparked conversations;
Dumsor has destroyed my appliances:
The most recent comments of the Asantehene that have gotten many talking is his “cry” over the impact of erratic power supply in the Ashanti region in his palace.
According to him, it had destroyed all his electrical appliances.
“I have been experiencing power outages recently. The light goes off and comes back without caution. All my appliances have been damaged because of the outages. So I sent messengers to him to enquire about what’s the problem was” he told the Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh when he paid a courtesy call on him.
Many have described the Asantehene’s comment as a heavy blow to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) considering how they criticized President Mahama over the “dumsor” crisis under his tenure.
Otumfuo on galamsey:
During a Regional Consultative Dialogue on Small Scale Mining at KNUST in the Ashanti Region in May this year, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II “exposed” the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor and Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah over their attempts to “force” him to stick to his written script fearing he was going to say something controversial.
Nonetheless, the Asantehene revealed that 30% of the people seated at the gathering knew the people involved in illegal mining popularly known as “galamsey”.
“Before I read my speech, I want to make mention of some two things. Yesterday, the Regional Minister and my son, Jinapor came to me to tell me to stick to the content of the speech and I told them I would. They perhaps thought I may say something else that may bring some trouble.
“In all sincerity, I told them that this galamsey issue we’ve been talking about, about 30% of us in this gathering would know the persons involved in galamsey. If we don’t speak the truth, we will keep deceiving ourselves, keep doing conferences for a long time,” he stated.
The comment sparked conversations on whether or not politicians were really committed in tackling the “galamsey” menace even as the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, put his presidency on the line for it.
Rawlings-Kufour relationship:
The public viewed the relationship between the late former president Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufour as that of sworn enemies.
However, opening up on the relationship between the two after the demise of Jerry John Rawlings, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II disclosed that they did not hate each other.
“Rawlings did not hate Kufuor. There was a time that myself, Kufuor and Rawlings rode in the same car. On a few occasions that there were some slight differences between Kufuor and Rawlings, the three of us resolved it peacefully”, Otumfuo is quoted to have said by DailyGuide in November 2020.
Otumfuo made these comments when the family of the late president visited him at the Manhyia Palace to inform him of about the death of Rawlings.