KENNEDY AGYAPONG, THE KEJETIA-VILLAGE TOWN CRIER & LEGISLATOR

“BRING YOUR BUTTOCKS [DERRIERE] IN EXCHANGE FOR EC CHAIR POSITION”

Politics, we dare posit, has made it possible for some shady characters in the Ghanaian body politic to assume airs, overloaded pretentiousness that would otherwise have been transparently absent in their lives and, yet again, but for the cheap social commodity some commentators called “politics.”

Politics can indeed be a “stinking gaping asshole”! Particularly in Ghana!

For, if it were not, why will Ghanaians call an undisciplined, primitive, morally bankrupt and misogynistic clown such as the stone-age philistine Kennedy Agyapong a legislator in a country founded by the great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, a progressive, anti-misogynistic political visionary?

Or be referred to or addressed as “honorable”?

Ghanaian politics has indeed gone to the dogs, a pack of feral political animals which Kennedy Agyapong leads in the Shadenfruede politics of insults, for, it is one thing for person to listen to these paedomorphic village idiot consistently make a fool, namely a grotesque caricature, of himself, quite another for that person to patronize his brand.

This impulsive, explosive sphinx liberally makes provocative, irresponsible statements in the public domain that generally tend either to undermine the generous efforts of Ghanaians to turn him into another patriotic “human being” capable of human civilization and progressive intellection, a responsible social animal for that matter, or to frustrate his own attempts at moral domestication and diplomatic civilization.

His raw or wild buffoonery knows no bounds, having become possible in a country, a geopolitical insane asylum if you will, where some citizens have taken freedom of speech, a one-time cherished social-political philosophy the White Man who allegedly invented it but is now understandably turning his back on, to an absurd height of moral and social irresponsibility!

Even the highly corrupt, devious, and Machiavellian animal characters in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” were respectful of womanhood, but not this undomesticated political animal…Kennedy Agyapong…though he is another “human being” purportedly born of woman!

Ken thinks, though mistakenly, that he is some sort of the likeness of Shakespearean Macbeth in the Ghanaian body politic but, of course, lacks the tactical and strategic intelligence and wisdom of Lord Macduff, a figure of morality born of woman.

Let us just say that no man truly born of woman will dare insult or disparage womanhood even on the pain of death, ostensibly over a simple matter of political disagreement or policy differences in constitutional approach to electoral politics! That is why the courts are there!

Unless, of course, again Ken was born of man, which he has proven to be the case, yet he is not Jesus to refer to himself as “Son of Man”!

Was Ken’s mother truly “a prostitute” as Afia Schwarzenegger alleged during her public feud with the legislator?

And if Ken were genuinely born of woman he would not have made the outrageous sexist claim that Madam Charlotte Osei, the industrious Chair of the Electoral Commission (EC), allegedly used her body to acquire the chairmanship of the EC.

This sensational allegation if patently false could constitute grounds for a serious libelous suit. Madam Osei must consider this course of action to salvage her womanhood, integrity, and respectability, though we also know that Ken is a cowardly, if effete and uneducated political animal, whose presumed “manliness” and uncouth tendencies find public relevance only if and when he takes to taunting, insulting, abusing or harassing hardworking, intelligent, independent and powerful women figures such as the gracious, beautiful and intellectually-gifted Madam Osei.

Yet Madam Osei is also Ken’s mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, wife, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, and niece…simply the Ghanaian woman for that matter. By allegedly denigrating the gracious womanhood of the Ghanaian, he is simply indicting the corrupt womanhood of all the females in his extended family. This simple fact of life is lost on him.

Where are the Pastor Mensa Otabils and the Rev. Owusu Bempahs when Ken is insulting their wives and daughters? Did the same Ken not call Pastor Mensa Otabil “the only true man of God”? Where is this “only true man of God” to condemn these insults on his wife and daughters?

Calling Pastor Mensa Otabil “the only true man of God” also means calling all those self-styled prophets, like Prophet Emmanuel Kobi and Pastor Edmond who claimed to have had corporeal, rather than of imaginative, visions of Akufo-Addo winning the next general elections, blatant liars!

Ironically, the boastfully empty Ken has already allegedly declared war in Ghana if the EC “cheats” the NPP, though some mentally challenged prophets sympathetic to the NPP have also already declared Akufo-Addo and the NPP winners of the upcoming elections. It is a deeply worrying development that the wisdom of hindsight means next to nothing to this man, Ken, as he takes great pride in leading the opposition choir to sing the now tired, ineffective song “All die be die”!

Such impulsive political snakes like Ken have permitted their insecurities to take full control of their scarred worlds of mentation, whenever and whenever they feel the encroaching shadows of powerful and independent women pass by them.

The largely politically and intellectually esotropic legislator, Ken and his naïve political communication strategies cannot and will not win elections for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

After all, the tide of feminism is on the ascendency among mostly educated and politically conscious women in Ghana and therefore he may well have to consider this fact as part of the strategic political calculations of the NPP in the lead-up to the 2016 general elections.

On the other hand, one wonders if the powerful women in the NPP attained their privileged and covetous political stations in the ethnocentric party by sleeping with some of the party’s bigwigs!

And if it were, did Ken actually pimp them around since he sounds more like a pimp than a “human being” with a modicum of brainpower in his Zika-infested macrocephalous skull!

THE WAY FORWARD: KENNEDY AGYAPONG’S OUTRAGEOUS DISRESPECT FOR WOMANHOOD SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED AGAIN

We essentially endorse the following statements critical of Ken:

OYE LITHUR, MINISTER OF GENDER AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

“You [Ken Agyapong] are in Public Office and should promote non-discrimination, respect for human dignity and gender equality by your comments and conduct.”

ACE ANKOMAH, A FORMER UNIVERSITY LAW PROFESSOR AND A PRIVATE ATTORNEY

“I call on all–meaning Ghanaians to speak up and out against this and any other denigration of women. The African woman works against considerable odds to attain heights that men take for granted. It is not allowed for her to be denigrated in this manner, simply because a person disagrees with her. I call on political parties whose members make such comments to have the guts, spine and cojones to condemn such statements too.”

DIANA NYANKOPA DANIELS, PROGRESSIVE WOMEN WITH PASSION

“We are sending a strong warning to all politicians to be mindful of their comments on women in the country.”

SAMUEL ATTA MENSAH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CITI FM

“We have to shame the man…some people think it will favor them, but such statements do not favor anybody. His outburst ‘should not be encouraged’…‘we expect that Ghanaians will condemn this man’ if he indeed uttered those ‘irresponsible words.’”

GHANA BAR ASSOCIATION (GBA)

“The comment by the legislator is ‘distasteful, offensive, abusive and derogatory not only to Mrs. Osei but to women in general.’”

AMA BENYIWA-DOE, MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE

“I believe Kennedy’s statement is unfortunate because Kennedy has never respected women…He has sworn to himself not to respect women. But I want to remind him that his mother is also a woman. At least, he has sisters and a wife, so why does he also wish to treat women with disdain?...So why does he continually attack women in positions of power? It is bad, it is not pleasant. So, I believe we all have to tell him his actions are bad. NPP executives should calm Kennedy Agyapong so we all enjoy some peace in this country.”

BERNARD MORNAH, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLE’S NATIONAL CONVENTION

“If there are legal issues, I will advise Madam Charlotte Osei to go to court so that Kennedy Agyapong will be able to prove the case she possibly exchanged sex for her position and who she exchanged that with.”

NII ALOTTEY BREW-HAMMOND, CHAIRMAN OF THE PROGRESSIVE PEOPLE’S PARTY

“We should not be disregarding statements like that coming from Member of our legislature…Parliament ought to ensure that its representatives whether in Parliament or outside comport themselves in the manner that will befit Ghana’s legislature…I don’t believe that this particular comment has inured to the goodwill of the people of Ghana and for that matter, Parliament should look and discipline its own.”

ANGELA DWAMENA ABOAGYE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ARK FOUNDATION

“This person is supposed to be an honorable MP and consistently he comes up with statements, rantings and ravings that make us question how he got there in the first place…People are working to ensure that women are dignified and then somebody comes up who is supposed to be a leader and in a few sentences destroys all the work that has been done in the past…no it is wrong, it is totally wrong…We are trying to model a way for younger women to know that they are also capable of getting to those places and then in a statement or two someone tears it all apart, no it is not right, we can’t have that…”

FRANKLIN CUDJOE, PRESIDENT OF IMANI CENTRE FOR POLICY & EDUCATION

“Mrs. Charlotte Osei, the current EC boss is not lazy and she is not dumb and she definitely won’t trade her body for excellence.”

OSEI KYEI MENSAH, MP & MINORITY LEADER

“He has good content but it doesn’t come across very well…unfortunately sometimes the way he comes across is not the best, so he should watch it…”

Given these positive sentiments and statements, Anthony Abayifa Karbo’s and Edmund Kyei’s positions in this serious matter are very disturbing in that Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the same Kejetia village champion who recently called the British Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin “a fool” had reportedly thrown a similar charge of “sex for role” at Patricia Appiagei.

And yes, finally, we need to also condemn Halidu Haruna’s misogynistic attacks upon women when he said they [women] above 30 were prostitutes. Karbo could also be so right about this fact, so right in the sense that we have to look at the larger society and seriously question how generally phallocentric misogynistic our society is and this, accordingly, from members of the clergy, to teachers, to traditional authority, to parents, cultural chauvinists, to some women and women groups themselves, and so one, a position outspoken actress, blogger and writer Lydia Forson tackles so admirably and forcefully in her masterpiece “Leave Kennedy Agyapong Alone”!

But hell no, we shall not…never…leave Ken alone. This is where we part company with Forson. Why? Because she is probably going to be her next target! The larger society has to take responsibility for this culture of phallocentric mysogynism. Maybe we could start with the political and social degenerate, the pied political animal called Ken. Regardless, though, Ken should be heavily sanctioned and possibly defrocked from parliamentary officialdom! This has been long in coming!

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Ken perfectly fits the profile of the “theory of political asshole” as his uncultivated mind and episodic rhetoric of filthy vulgarism continue to undermine the NPP and the political ambition and objectives of its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.

An uncultivated mind of the kind a dangerous male chauvinist, such as Ken, carries on his Zika-infested microcephalous skull should certainly have no place in the chambers of the legislature.

It really does not matter in the least if he is a paternalistic philanthropist who supports members of financially handicapped families, including actor Abraham Attah. We are talking about positive models in the Ghanaian larger society, for, once again, after all, Attah too has a mother who could as well have been the hardworking Madam Osei, the butt of Ken’s political “jokes.”

Ghana deserves better than these creepy chauvinistic male castrato, Afia-Schwarzenegger, in its legislature.

As a well-known political financier of the NPP his gross verbal diarrhea is qualitatively no different from the bad taste of political aura hanging over another self-styled NDC financier, Alfred Woyome’s judgment debt.

Sadly, Ghanaians, it also seems, have tolerated the stinging stench of this political hyena and immoral skunk for far too long.

Ghanaian women in particular should push partisan politics aside and take the war of words to the doorstep of the “mentally challenged” medieval outlier, Kennedy Agyapong, a symbol of Ghana’s culture of misogynistic phallocentrism for they should understand that an attack on Madam Osei’s womanhood is an attack on Ghanaian womanhood, the bearer and lifeblood of Ghanaian humanity, in general! They should teach him the hard lesson Larry Summers had to endure!

It is high time the larger Ghanaian society learned not to be permissive or tolerant of the kind of masculinization of verbal bullying of women represented by this sassy slimy political snake!

Long story short:

If on the other hand he, Ken, thinks he has any reliable or formidable evidence on professional impropriety or misconduct on the part of Madam Osei and of those male politicians she allegedly slept with in exchange for the chairpersonship of the EC, then why not bring or raise this important issue of incriminating evidence as a motion on the floor of parliament for debate and her possible defrocking if this evidence in question eventually turns out to be provably correct or true?

And, it really does not matter even if Ken’s behavior is not an isolated case as some of his supporters and admirers have tried to do, to explain away that nauseating misogynistic rhetoric.

Why has Ken waited all this while before making this sensational allegation? Perhaps he did not become privy to this hypothetical evidence until quite recently. If so, he may have used the wrong platform to advance the cause of his dangerous and divisive politics of male chauvinism.

Pending the formal submission of this evidence, we will speculate that this is merely one of those desperate calculations meant to frustrate the work of the resolute Madam Osei. It will not wash!

FINAL QUESTIONS

Given the unsavory allegation that some male politicians allegedly slept with Madam Osei in exchange for the chairpersonship of the EC, could we also ask what exactly we should make of the likelihood of female members on the Council of State, who evaluated her nomination for the post of the EC chairpersonship, also sleeping with her? Will that in any way remove the tag of male chauvinism! Certainly it is still too early to tell!

Hear Akufo-Addo himself:

“Using the structures of the party to deal with the problems of the party is what we have to do. So I am asking everybody to respect that even senior members of the party like the redoubtable Kennedy Agyapong, I am pleading with him…I want to assure you that I am focused on the main goal, which is to win the election of 2016.”

Has Ken not proven now and then to be, perhaps, the most important if crucial number one public enemy of the NPP and Akufo-Addo? With Ken’s uninhibited uncultured tongue, diplomatic gaffes, and misogynistic posturing, it is clear from our point of view that Akufo-Addo’s main goal of winning the election of 2016 is a long shot, a far cry from actualization!

REFERENCES

Ghanaweb. “There Will Be Chaos If EC Cheats NPP…Ken Agyapong.” June 27, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “NPP Will Not Condemn Ken Agyapong For Attacking EC Boss…Karbo.” June 28, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Ken Agyapong Must Apologize For ‘Insulting’ EC Chair…Oye Lithur.” June 28, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “NPP Must Condemn Ken Agyapong…Ace Ankomah.” June 28, 2016.

Ace Ankomah. “Speak Out Against Denigration Of Women.” Ghanaweb. June 28, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Charlotte Osei Neither Lazy Nor Dumb…IMANI Defends EC Boss.” June 28, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Ken Agyapong To Be Dragged To Court Over ‘Sex’ Comment.” June 29, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Dare Me And I Will Strip Charlotte Naked…Ken Agyapong.” June 28, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “GBA Berates Ken Agyapong For Attacking EC Chair.” June 29, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Ken Agyapong Has ‘Never Respected Women’…Benyiwa-Doe.” June 29, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Nana Begs Kennedy Agyapong To ‘Shut Up.’” September 10, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Ken Agyapong’s Claims Make Us Question How He Became MP…Dwamena Aboagye.” June 29, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Ken Agyapong’s Attacks On EC Boss Justified…Edmund Kyei.” June 29, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “PNC Urges EC To Sue Kennedy Agyapong.” June 29, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Ken Agyapong Hot Over Sexist Comments.” June 30, 2016.

Ghanaweb. “Watch Your Mouth…Kyei Mensah Tells Ken Agyapong.” June 16, 2016.