Ohene in accra

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, yesterday stormed the capital city, Accra, with a retinue of chiefs on what appears to be a peace mission during which he met political gladiators of the country. Otumfuo Osei Tutu said he was in Accra to deliver a public lecture put together by the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE), under the theme, ‘Advancing Together’, which was part of its annual Democracy Lectures. He however seized the opportunity to meet some key and influential people in the country, namely President John Dramani Mahama, whose election is being disputed in court, former President Jerry John Rawlings and Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 general elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Unfortunately, he could not meet former President John Agyekum Kufuor since he was out of the country. One thing that ran through his discussions with all three political leaders was the ongoing election petition before the Supreme Court. He urged all the parties to abide by the outcome of the court process. First was his meeting with President Mahama at the Flagstaff House where he urged the President to do all it takes to surmount the myriad of problems facing the nation, chief among which was unemployment and what had come to be known as ‘dumsor-dumsor’, the intermittent power outages that had beset the nation. *Flagstaff House*President Mahama seeing off Otumfuo Osei Tutu President Mahama seeing off Otumfuo Osei Tutu President Mahama on his part stressed the belief that the court process would unite Ghanaians more than it would divide them. “At a time when people think the nation is being buffeted by some uncertainty as a result of this court case, I do think it strengthens our democracy that even though we have a dispute, or somebody contesting the results of the elections, he has decided to go to court and we are giving the court the opportunity to listen to his grievance and find out whether it is genuine or not. “I think that it goes to strengthen our democracy that Ghana continues to show the way in terms of good governance, democracy and rule of law,” he was quoted as saying. *Rawlings’ Advice*Otumfuo Osei Tutu interacting with Mr and Mrs Rawlings Otumfuo Osei Tutu interacting with Mr and Mrs Rawlings From there, the Asantehene and his entourage went to meet former President Rawlings at his Ridge office where the NDC founder called on commentators on the election petition to present the facts as they were being told in court and desist from twisting and reshaping facts to fit into people’s prejudices and political agenda. This, he said, was in view of the fact that twisted or misshaped information would not augur well for Ghana’s future and stability. “It is beginning to seem as if people are listening only to what they want to hear and not the findings and evidence that are being provided daily; this is not right,” Mr Rawlings noted. On his part, the Asantehene commended Mr Rawlings for the role he played in reinstituting constitutional democratic governance. Present at the meeting were Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and spokesman for Mr Rawlings, Kofi Adams. *Nana Addo’s Commitment* Otumfuo and members of his delegation then moved to the Nima residence of Nana Akufo-Addo where he was met on arrival by his host and other high ranking members of the NPP. After the exchange of conviviality, the two went into discussions during which Otumfuo commended the NPP leader and his supporters for taking the noble decision to challenge the outcome of the 2012 elections in court and not on the streets with protests. He therefore asked not only Nana Akufo-Addo but all the parties involved in the ongoing election petition to do well in the spirit of nationalism to accept the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling. As always, the NPP leader pledged his party’s commitment to whatever the outcome of the court case would be since they believed in the rule of law. That notwithstanding, he said, “I’m confident that when the truth comes out, that is what will bring the peace and unity that we all seek in Ghana.” Nana Akufo-Addo therefore asked the Ashanti King to advise whoever was involved in the case before the Supreme Court to also accept the verdict in good faith. Nana Addo reiterated his commitment to maintaining and supporting the peace prevailing in the country. According to him, NPP members and supporters would not indulge in any acts that would destabilise the country. He told Otumfuo Osei Tutu that the good record of the NPP was there to show that they were a peace-loving party, and had always accepted the outcome of elections organized by the Electoral Commission. He however pointed out that the party decided to go to court this time around because of the widespread irregularities that characterized the 2012 December general elections. Flanked by his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumia, Party Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and a host of other party officials, Nana Akufo-Addo said the irregularities that characterized the 2012 December general elections could not make the results a true reflection of the will of Ghanaians. “We respect and believe in the Supreme Court, that is why we have petitioned them and we will accept any decision or verdict they make,” he said. By Charles Takyi-Boadu