The Ekumfi Traditional Council has expressed its utter disappointment at the regrettable remarks made by President Akufo-Addo during a visit of some dignitaries from Ekumfi to the Jubilee House.

In a now-viral video, the President admits that he had intentionally ignored the people of Ekumfi and denied them of developmental projects because they had voted out the New Patriotic Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for the area, Ato Cudjoe.

“We are extremely shocked by those statements and struggle to believe the same to be true because we particularly did not believe that the President who is mandated by the Constitution to be responsible for the development of the country could politically segregate the country and treat others with disdain and dislike, and vehemently deny us development because we did not vote for his preferred candidate,” the Traditional Council stated.

In a press statement denouncing the President’s comments, the Ekumfi Traditional Authorities said the President’s discriminatory actions were in contravention of the 1992 constitution and threatened the people’s rights to a free and fair election and the right to vote freely.

“Per our understanding of the very Constitution which recognizes free and fair elections, one of which made President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufu-Addo, there is no provision in the 1992 Constitution which mandates the President to decide who the people of Ekumfi or for that matter any other constituency must elect to represent them in Parliament as their legislature,” they stated.

They added that the President’s decision to halt all development projects in the area based on that was unfathomable and have thus called on the President to present scientific data to illustrate what the former MP did for the people of Ekumfi.

“We believe that accurate data would justify the President’s claim that Honourable Ato Cudjoe should have been retained by the people of Ekumfi.”

They further added that “Our call comes on the heels of the fact that the same Honourable Ato Cudjoe who is preferred by the President and whose exit from Parliament has become the reason the President has neglected Ekumfi, has once again lost miserably in the NPP’s internal party primaries to elect a parliamentary candidate for the 2024 General Election. If the President’s party folks could reject Ato Cudjoe, why must the Chiefs and people of Ekumfi suffer for his exit in 2020?”

The Ekumfi Traditional Council has urged the President to revisit his notes and ensure that all stalled developmental initiatives in Ekumfi start in earnest.

This they believe will demonstrate the President’s regret for his displeasing comments.