, has said the former Akufo-Addo government did not snub the Ashanti region.){kind=link}
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said the former Akufo-Addo government did not snub the Ashanti region.
According to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Members of Parliament in the Ashanti Region demanded that their community roads be fixed instead of providing them with flyovers.
He revealed he was shocked that an Ashanti region MP apologised to the people for neglecting them because the NPP government had not constructed flyovers.
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, while addressing NPP party faithful, said, “I heard somebody saying in the Ashanti Region that we let Ashantis down because we didn’t fix their roads. NPP let Ashantis down because they didn’t have flyovers. But I had been in meetings where MPs from the Ashanti region had said that they did not need flyovers, but they want their community roads done, and in politics, you are supposed to give people what they say they want, not what you think they want.
They wanted their community roads, and when you look at the number of roads that were done in Ashanti per capita across the country, you can’t say NPP let Ashanti Region down. Yet an NPP person was apologising for disappointing the Ashantis for neglecting the Ashanti region”.
He continued, “Now if you want to win in 2028, and this is your attitude, that you have accepted that you did not do well. There is a difference between humility and knocking yourselves down. You can show humility. Maybe you expected more from us, and we are sorry that we couldn’t deliver all that you expected.
How is 2028 going to be your best chance? How can you go and convince Ghanaians that I’ve failed you, but bring me back to power? You must be bolder in defending what you did, you must be humble in accepting where you fell short, and you must have the confidence to say that in spite of this and that I can tell you that I have built more roads than any government that has spent the number of times that I have spent in office”.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore, Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, has refuted the claims made by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye noted that no such meeting had ever taken place where the MPs stated they did not need a flyover.
“Gabby O. Darko, I never set my eyes on you from 2017 up until August 2025. When & where was this meeting on Ashanti development?” the MP wrote.
Also, the Ashanti Regional Parliamentary Caucus has dismissed Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko’s claims as ‘false, inaccurate, and misleading.”
The Caucus, in a statement, wrote, “We wish to place on record that no such meeting ever took place between Ashanti MPs and any person in authority where such a choice or preference was made”.
“The people of Ashanti have stood unwaveringly with the party, and it is only fair that their loyalty is rewarded with projects that reflect their central role in Ghana’s political and economic development,” the statement emphasised.
“Anything short of that must be regarded as unfounded commentary that undermines party unity and disrespects the good people of Ashanti,” they declared.
“The people of Ashanti deserve truth, respect, and results,” the statement concluded.