Asante Bediatuo Stirs Public Anger

With living conditions becoming unbearable each day for Ghanaians, mass unemployment and general economic hardship in the country, fast and luxury Lamborghini, Porsches, Ferraris and top of the range Mercedes, in a holiday resort of France, was the last thing they expected to see was people close to President Akufo-Addo, displaying opulence as though money grows on trees.

But the list of luxury was not without expensive drinks, food and beautiful women in five-star hotels in an atmosphere akin to Arabian monarch swimming in oil money.

This was the case on the beautiful river front in Southern France, a group of sweet headed Ghanaian businessmen and politicians led by Nana Asante Bediatuo, Executive Secretary to the President of Ghana, were attending the birthday party of the CEO of Deftraco Limited.

Nana Asante Bediatuo, was seen cruising in an expensive Mercedes AMG C 63 sports, puffing on his signature Cuban Cigar in the company of his young Nigerian second wife, Femi Adetola.

Details obtained by The Herald shows the expensive party took place at Saint-Tropez, a coastal town on the French Riviera, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of southeastern France. It is popular with artists and remains known for its beaches and nightlife.

The party-lovers arrived on  July 23, 2019 till Saturday July 27, 2019, when they departed after enjoying themselves, including the Yacht cruise.

According to sources, Femi Adetola, serves on the Ghana Prisons Board and runs a restaurant called Red Chili, which has seen significant boost in business with the office of the President listed among her current clients.

According to the popular social media publication; Whatsup News, its enquiries indicates that the flamboyant party was actually by Joseph Aidoo Jnr., the Executive Director of real estate company Devtraco Limited, a man whose wrap sheet will be revealed soon.

He was reportedly celebrating his birthday and had invited Nana Asante Bediatuo, who aside from his second wife flew in his son Nana Twum who has recently relocated to Ghana.

Pictures and videos of the event, have gone viral on social media with many sympathizers of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) are now in a state of dismay, disgust and anger because after painstakingly paving the streets of Ghana with vim and vigour, garnering votes for President Akufo-Addo, they did not expect such opulence from his appointees.

These NPP believers were made to think they were campaigning for change. Sang the song of freedom from financial oppression, but nearly four years since the election, they continue to wallow in desperation and poverty, while some current party executives, Akufo-Addo appointees and close associates are swimming in opulent lifestyles, mainly supported by tax-payers’s pockets.

These NPP die-hards, bitterly expressed their grievances last Tuesday on Radio political talk shows, both in Kumasi and Accra. They further complained on social media platforms over the lifestyles of some of their appointees, including the Executive Secretary to the President and his group of friends in Europe partying hard.

The young party crusaders, appeared vexed by this shameless display of indulgence at a time Ghanaians are going through serious hardships. They have attributed this behaviour to a high level of insensitivity on the side of the President and his cronies. A disregard of the many sacrifices made so he could be called Mr. President

Some of the footsoldiers claiming to be part of the party executives in Ashanti region, sent in messages citing the common pidgin analogy; _monkeys dey work baboonsdey chop._

“Less than 3 years in office our lives have become worse due to high cost of living – fuel, water, electricity and transport hikes. We now watch people who couldn’t afford three square meals a day living opulent lifestyles and others like Chairman Wontumi and Bediatuo buying Ferrari. Others investing millions of dollars in properties, yatchs and luxury cars in Monaco. Those funds could be used to invest in our struggling Footsoldiers. We the executives will not suffer for this family to watch unconcerned whilst our businesses in Ashanti Region collapse and they are enjoying.”, read one message.

Last Christmas, Bediatuo himself organized a lavish party at his residence and imported Nigerian music superstar, D’Banj to perform. Rumors are that, he paid a premium for D’Banj’s performance. Fashion superstar, Naomi Campbell, also attended the lavish party.

This latest expression of flamboyance is coming in the heels of recent public outrage when pictures and videos of Kwasi Atuah, the Board Chairman of the State Insurance Company (SIC Life) emerged of him throwing a lavish 50th birthday party for his wife in Monte Carlo by hiring a private jet and flying about a dozen family and friends for the week-long celebration.

Not long afterwards, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, Abdul Hanan Wahab, throwing a lavish birthday party aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight after being accused of reportedly diverting GHC 6 million belonging to members of the Ghana Oil Palm Producers Association (GOPPA).

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is increasingly being given the flak for officials exhibiting opulence at the expense of tight economic conditions.

The current NPP government has been embroiled in so many scandals since assuming office in 2017. The latest being the PDS scandal which many Ghanaians believe was orchestrated to benefit the President his family and close Associates.

It remains to be seen, what actions will be taken to address the concerns of this huge party support Base.