The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) must not see internal critic Kennedy Agyapong as a “traitor” and “loose-talker” because the Assin Central MP is just “cracking the whip” to ensure that the party “treads cautiously” so it does not suffer the misfortune of the Mahama administration and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) while they were in power, Deputy General Secretary Nana Obiri Boahen has said.

Mr Agyapong has been a harsh critic of his own party since Nana Akufo-Addo took office in January this year. He has accused the government of giving contracts to known opposition members to the chagrin and neglect of financiers of the NPP and supporters who worked hard for the party’s victory in the 2016 elections.

Defending Mr Agyapong’s posture, Nana Obiri Boahen told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Wednesday, 23 August that the belief of “many people” in the NPP is that “Nana Obiri Boahen, Wontumi and Kennedy Agyapong speak the mind of most people in the party and that is right. We speak the minds of a lot of Ghanaians in the party.”

“Some party supporters are complaining seriously, they are whining, so you need some of us to speak the minds of those people. So, for me as an individual, I think Kennedy is just speaking the minds of a lot of NPP people. I don’t think he has any ulterior motives for the party, he’s just being honest and sincere and just also cracking the whip, telling us that look: ‘We must do A, B, C and D so that we don’t fall into the same situation as NDC did, I mean he’s being very honest about that.”

Obiri Boahen noted that it was important for the NPP to have internal critics like Kennedy Agyapong who would set the party right when it is straying. “You need characters like Kennedy who are very forthright and candid and honest and sincere to be cracking the whip, to be telling us things as it is so that we can put our house in order, so that we’ll ensure longevity for the NPP.

“Personally … the man has been very honest and sincere. When we were in opposition, [he was] honest and sincere and forthright; in government, [he’s being] honest and sincere and forthright. So what else? He is a human being, sometimes he will veer off a little … but the cumulative effect of his complaint is that we need to do things well, we need to put our act together… so, people should not brand him as a traitor, as a talkative, I think that the man wants NPP to be in power both now and in the foreseeable future… that is my personal opinion, that is not the opinion of the leadership of the party and I must say that I wholeheartedly support him to a certain extent,” Nana Obiri Boahen clarified.