NAPO is not a true royal; Akan’s inherit matrilineally – Asiedu Nketia

National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has dismissed the royal tag attributed to Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the running mate of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

According to Mr Nketia, the claim that Dr Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, is a royal is false due to the Akan tradition of matrilineal inheritance.

“Where he [Napo] and his supporters have placed his campaign is wrong because we in the NDC believe in equality under the constitution, so we don’t care what region our president or running mate will be coming from, whether from a royal family or not, so long as he satisfies the constitutional requirement of being a Ghanaian. But Napo and his supporters appear to be pitching their campaign and asking people to vote for him because he comes from a royal family, but we in the NDC know it is his grandfather, Prempeh, who was once an Asantehene, but in Akan, inheritance is matrilineal, not patrilineal, so Napo is not a true royal,” Mr Nketia emphasised.

Speaking on CTV’s morning show, Dwabo, on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, Mr Nketia also said the selection of NAPO is advantageous for the NDC due to his perceived arrogance.

“Everyone knows Napo is arrogant and disrespectful. That is why the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, his father, advised him to prove his critics wrong on the assertion that he is arrogant and not to make Bawumia regret selecting him as running mate. But soon after leaving Manhyia Palace after the advice, he went to mount a campaign platform [to disrespect Kwame Nkrumah],” Mr Nketia stated.

He further criticised the NPP's strategy of using Napo's royal lineage as a campaign tool, arguing that the NDC believes in equality under the constitution and does not prioritise royal heritage when selecting leaders.

He reiterated that in Akan tradition, inheritance is matrilineal, implying that Napo is not a true royal despite his grandfather, Prempeh, once being an Asantehene.

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