...Wants votes in exchange for it
The fight to become the next flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2024 is getting more heated by the day, with each of the ten candidates working to promote themselves while also taking potshots at their rivals.
Kennedy Agyapong is one of those individuals, though, who appears to have conceived of guerilla methods for his campaign and is combining them with a healthy dosage of rage.
To seize the NPP 2024 flagbearer spot that is scheduled for November of this year, he has resorted to the use of threats, emotional blackmail, and other tactics.
Many polls show him ranked third, after Vice President Bawumia and Alan Kyerematen, the former Minister of Trade and Industry, but the man who many people had thought would quit out after testing the waters is still very much in the race and devoted to the fight like everyone else who has a strategy.
He has often given warning that he will resort to dirty tactics in the event that any of the hopefuls or their agents provoke him into a fight. It is interesting to note that many of his attacks have been directed towards Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia. At one point, he poked fun at Dr. Bawumia for his poor economic management, which he said was the root cause of the country's downfall.
On many of his few campaign appearances across the country, he has been telling NPP delegates that he has been a member of the NPP for years and has been serving as an MP for the last 21 years, and that during all of these years, he has donated enormous sums to finance the party's activities. He has only made a handful of campaign stops across the country.
In addition to this, he has been discussing the contribution of pickup vehicles that he made to the party in order to assist in the election campaigns that were being run in various constituencies all across the country.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region has also discussed his gifts of used garments, which are referred to as "Obroni wa wu" in the local language. These clothes are intended to be distributed throughout the many constituencies, particularly in the Western Region.
At one point, he named Joe Ghartey, an additional presidential aspirant, as having received delivery of bales of the used clothes for distribution in the Western Region. This information was intended for the Western Region.
Mr. Agyapong is adamant that he has contributed more to the NPP than any of the other candidates for this position.
Concerning the matter of the danger, he stated that there will be repercussions in the event that somebody similar to him is not selected by the delegates of the NPP to lead them as their flagbearer in 2024.
In addition, he had asserted, on a few times, that despite the sacrifices he had made for the ruling party, he had not been appropriately rewarded by either of the NPP governments—the administration of Kufuor or that of Akufo-Addo—and that this was something he had claimed on several occasions.
However, his charges of neglect have been refuted by certain top members of the NPP, including as Adomako Baafi and the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Mensah, in response to his criticism of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Specifically, his criticism was directed at the Vice President.
One of them referred to him as a liar and claimed that he had been given more favours than he was due ever since the Kufuor administration.
During a campaign tour in Kintampo, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central took a shot at the Vice President, accusing him of taking Ghana's economy to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after bragging and presenting himself as a strategist. He made this accusation while the MP was campaigning in Kintampo.
The Western Regional Minister, who was upset over the jabs made at Dr. Bawumia, argued that Mr. Agyapong was acting in a greedy manner.
During an interview with Radio 360, the Minister stated that the Member of Parliament for Assin Central kept a low profile while benefiting from government contracts during the COVID era, which was characterised by difficult economic conditions.
Kwabena Okyere Mensah is astounded by the fact that Ken Agyapong wants to point fingers and criticise the Vice President of failing now that Agyapong is running for the position of flagbearer in the NPP. Mensah is outraged by this.
"In life, you may run into misfortune from time to time; because Ghana is a member of the IMF, they have provided us with some aid during the Covid crisis. The cedi has been steadily improving in value ever since Ghana joined the IMF. What fascinates me, on the other hand, is the fact that, between the two of us, we are all aware that the individual you are referring to [Kennedy Agyapong] is one of the largest government contractors.
"When things were bad and he was benefitting, that was right. However, now that he wants to be a Presidential candidate, he has forgotten about all those benefits he derived, and he wants us to forget about all of that?" Kwabena Okyere Mensah wondered.
The Minister for the Western Region went on to remark, "Then he should reverse (SIC) all those contracts he earned and hand it over to others, and say because Ghana is now back to the IMF, I will not take any government contract again," as a continuation of his previous statement.
"If he continues to behave in that manner, then technically you want to act like a greedy person who wants to benefit both ways." Moving forward, Western Regional Minister Kwabena Okyere Mensah asked all candidates for flagbearer to run a clean campaign rather than assaulting one another in the course of the competition.
However, in response, Mr. Agyapong contends that the Vice President is not an economic strategist because he has not discovered a solution to the economic crisis that the country is currently experiencing.
As part of his campaign trip in Kintampo East in the Bono East Region on Sunday, July 16, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central took a strong stance against Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, saying, "You call yourself a strategist but when we were taking over power the Dollar was GH4, today $1 is GH12 and yet you call yourself a strategist."
"In March 2022, I had $40 million in Cedi equivalent, but by August 2022, the value of those $40 million had dropped to $16 million."
However, this did not sit well with some party faithfuls, particularly Dr. Bawumia's followers, who confronted the lawmaker by alluding to the accolades that he had bestowed on the Vice President in the wake of the global epidemic. This did not go down well with certain party faithfuls.
In a statement that was subsequently made by his communications team in reaction to the most recent complaints, the Board Chairman of Ghana National Gas Company said that he believes he is capable of doing a better job, which is why he is running for the position of leading the ruling party. The statement was issued in response to the most recent accusations.
"Those who do not believe they can do better should exit the race," read the statement dated Wednesday, July 19th.
It was emphasised that "straight-talking Ken Agyapong offers a different, business-like approach to managing the economy based upon a better leveraging of Ghana's own resources – both domestically and internationally." This was a key point of the article.
"In regard to the Honourable Ken Agyapong's previous support of the Vice President and his recent criticism of him, it only demonstrates that he will consistently be truthful and honest with his evaluation of others and give praise or criticism when and where it is due,"
In addition, the statement attacked the Minister for the Western Region, labelling him as greedy due to the fact that he has multiple jobs in the government led by Akufo-Addo.
If taking on numerous roles at once is problematic, then the Member of Parliament for Takoradi need to vacate his post as Regional Minister and focus on his duties as a Member of Parliament instead.
"Ken Agyapong reinvests the money he makes in Ghana to start companies that will give young people jobs." Young people in Ghana would have an easier time finding work if all of the companies that won government contracts followed this model.
Yaw Adomako Baafi, who served as the former Communication Director for the NPP, has also condemned Mr. Agyapong for his recent attacks on the Vice President. According to Yaw Adomako Baafi, Mr. Agyapong's actions are motivated by animosity and envy towards the Vice President.
Baafi stated, during an interview with Wontumi TV on July 17, 2023, that as a result of Kennedy's push for power, he had retracted all of his past compliments and begun an attack on Dr. Bawumia. Baafi further mentioned that Dr. Bawumia was the target of this onslaught.
He went on to say that he can remember situations where Kennedy Agyapong talked highly of the Vice President as a great individual; however, due to his ambitions, he has changed his position and is now making negative remarks about Dr. Bawumia. He said that he can recollect these instances because he can recall them.
"Everyone should go to GhanaWeb and see what Kennedy Agyapong was saying about Dr. Bawumia before, that he is the best person, but because you're contesting with him and based on greed, you are saying all these things, I won't waste my time on you," he said. "You should see what Kennedy Agyapong was saying about Dr. Bawumia before. That he is the best person." But the most important thing to remember about Bawumia is that he is a human, which means that no matter what, he could have certain shortcomings.
He continued by saying, "...since 2007 when Bawumia joined the party, I was with my brother Kennedy Agyapong at that time, so I am very careful to speak against him, but the point is that when Bawumia set 175 questions for Amissah Arthur I was sitting with him in his station and he was saying Bawumia as intelligent but today he is not right? "
"When we went to the Supreme Court and Bawumia was defending (the election petition), he was like: 'what! This man is intelligent.' but now because of power, you are downgrading him. If you will remember when we were bringing Bawumia, Kennedy Agyapong was the only person who spoke against it, so he is revisiting his hatred against him," Bawumia said.
Before the party's main congress on November 4, 2023, the ten super delegates, including Kennedy Agyapong, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, and John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, will be put through a congress where the number will be cut to five. This will take place before the congress on the super delegates.
Other candidates in the contest include Joe Ghartey, who served as former Minister of Justice and Attorney General; Kwadwo Poku, a businessman and energy specialist; and Boakye Agyarko, who served as Boakye Agyarko, who served as former Minister of Energy.
Former NPP General Secretary Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a former Member of Parliament for Mampong named Francis Addai-Nimoh, a former Minister of State named Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, and a former Minister of Food and Agriculture named Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto round out the list.