The governing National Democratic Congress is set to elect its flagbearer at a national delegates congress in Sunyani from July 8-10, 2011. President Mills is being challenged for the NDC flagbearer slot by the former first lady and Dr Ekwow Spio-Grabrah.
Hon. Michael Teye Nyaunu, MP for Lower Manya Krobo, who was recently captured on a secret video tape in which he told NDC delegates that President Mills was virtually blind and could not read vital documents, has been captured in another audiotape.
This time round, he was heard confidently claiming the Asantehene has endorsed and pledged his support, as well as that of his Kingdom, to the former First Lady’s bid to unseat President Mills as leader of the NDC party.
The under-fire MP was speaking to party delegates at Ashaiman, according to the Enquirer newspaper, which first published contents of the tape. On the current tape, Mr. Nyaunu is heard claiming Otumfuo Osei Tutu had told Nana Konadu he would rather support a fellow Asante royal than an Akyem native, a subtle swipe at the flagbearer of the opposition NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is an Akyem.
The controversial MP stated emphatically that Otumfuo’s support for Mrs. Rawlings was unfettered.
“We were sent to Ashanti Region and we met Otumfuo. When we finished telling him about Nana Konadu’s ambitions, he looked at us in the face and said we didn’t know the name of our candidate properly. ‘Listen, I will tell you your candidate’s name, her name is Nana Konadu Agyemang’ then he (Otumfuo)stopped. ‘She is an Asante and comes from the Royal house so we the royals will never leave our daughter in front of a battle like that. If she goes through the primaries, majority of Asantes will support her and she can win.’ He told us that the Ashantis will vote for an Ashanti woman than for Akyem. So we have also done our homework.
“These are things we didn’t want to bring to the public domain. There are some of the things we are keeping but we are all NDC people here and we must tell you the delegates the truth for you to know why we are standing firmly that Madam should go” he stated.
The Spokesperson for Former President Rawlings Mr. Kofi Adams, who was also at the Ashaiman meeting, is heard on the tape claiming that a survey conducted by the opposition NPP shows Mrs. Rawlings, rather than President Mills, would give Nana Akufo-Addo the tougher fight for the presidency.
But the Spokesperson for the Asantehene has rejected Mr. Nyaunu’s endorsement claims, describing it as a figment of the Lower Manya MP’s imagination.
He told Citi News Otumfuo Osei Tutu would never meddle in politics of that sort. “Otumfuo has not led any support of some sort for Nana Agyemang Rawlings. Manhyia has never got involved in politics more especially tribal politics. Manhyia supports the elected Government of the day and that is all. Otumfuo will never say such a thing.
“We must respect the personality of Otumfuo as well as his pronouncements. Otumfuo will never state this type of trash. I consider it as trash. Teye Nyaunu or whoever he is has never stepped at Manhyia. I have never seen him there. So if he says that, then it’s a figment of his own imagination or he probably is interested in peddling falsehood” he said.
“Otumfuo does not sit down with these politicians and other dignitaries alone. He always does that with his chiefs. That’s the tradition of the house. And when the chiefs are with him too, the secretaries and PROs are also with them. So if Otumfuo has said something like this, I would have been in the know” he stated.
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