Former Municipal Chief Executive for the Ejisu Juaben Municipality in the Ashanti Region, Afrifa Yamoah Ponkoh says some elements in the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) are behind a publication that appeared in a UK-based news portal citing Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in a money laundering scandal.
Though he did not mention names, he disclosed that they are members of the present government emphasizing that their plot will be resisted by right-thinking residents of Asanteman and subjects of the king.
The leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), is convinced that the alleged $350,000 money laundering saga leveled against the Asante monarch, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is politically motivated by some people in the NPP to tarnish the image of the great Asante Kingdom.
He said they will soon be exposed and chased out of the country.
“How can some people be so mean and make such damming allegations against our great King? They should stop this nonsense because I will soon expose them and chase them out of the country. I know where all these lies are coming from and I promise to deal with them drastically.
“They know themselves and want they are planning against the Kingdom even in power. They shouldn’t dare else they will regret. They can’t even compare themselves to the golden stool and then have resorted to tarnishing his image. They will fight in vain” he said on Accra based Okay FM.
The UK’s Telegraph and Daily Mail reported the revelations in an ongoing tribunal after the bank official, Mark Frank Arthur, who carried the money in a taxi to deposit at the Ghana Commercial Bank in London.
He was subsequently fired for flouting anti-money laundering regulations and he is currently challenging his sacking in a UK court.
In Ghana, the subject has triggered reactions somewhat subdued in certain quarters where the king is held in high esteem.
The Manhyia Palace has since dismissed allegation of money laundering against Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as carried out by the Daily Telegraph.
The Palace has indicated that the Asantehene will on no occasion contravene the sovereign laws of any nation.
In a rebuttal, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sam Pyne on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem expressed disgust at the conduct of the NDC man.
He said as a leading member of the NDC seeking to be a Regional Chairman, Yamoah Ponkoh should have known better and not drag the NPP into the scandal.
But Mr Ponkoh who is much convinced that the news is cooked to denigrate the name of His Royal Majesty of the Asante kingdom has vowed to make sure that those behind the scandal are exposed and punished.
Listen to Yamoah Ponkoh