The withdrawal of the former Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, from the flagbearership race of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), appears to have given one of the contenders in the race, Kennedy Agyapong, his ‘longstanding wish'.
From the beginning of the NPP presidential primaries, even though ten people filed nominations to contest, Alan Kyerematen, Ken Agyapong and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia were seen as the top three contenders for the presidential candidate position.
The party’s Special Delegate Conference, which was held on August 26, 2023, to sieve the 10 flagbearer aspirants from ten to five, indeed confirmed that Bawumia, Ken and Alan are the top contenders for the position.
To the surprise of many Ghanaians, Alan on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, decided to withdraw from the flagbearership race, making the NPP main presidential primaries scheduled for November 4, 2023, more of a two-horse race.
All other factors being equal, Alan's withdrawal now sets the stage for a showdown between Ken and Bawumia, a threat the former ‘unconsciously’ made as the party’s Special Delegate Conference was getting heated.
Kennedy Agyapong fired a direct salvo at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, during the conference.
In what can be described as the teaser of the main show or sneak peek into the future of the NPP, an irate Kennedy Agyapong was captured in the full glare of the public sending missiles to the Jubilee House with President Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia being the primary targets.
An outraged Kennedy Agyapong was captured on video protesting the alleged mishandling of his agent at one of the voting centres for the conference. Kennedy Agyapong believed that associates of the vice president who was also a candidate in the race carried out the actions, hence his displeasure.
“President Akufo-Addo, I swear God, I will give you a showdown. Vice president, I will give you a showdown. You’ve chased away my agent for him to hide in a room, we shall see. You will hear what will happen. I swear God, I will challenge President Akufo-Addo anytime.”
With Alan out of the way, Kennedy Agyapong now has the chance to give Bawumia a ‘showdown’, directly and President Akufo-Addo an indirect ‘showdown’ - since many have alleged that Akufo-Addo is backing the vice president's bid to replace him.
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Kennedy Agyapong (left) and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia