Opinions of Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Columnist: Dr. John-Baptist Naah
Before the NPP flagbearership race on November 4, 2023, I maintained that Kennedy Agyapong is not presidential material in Ghanaian politics for various reasons.
Kennedy, through his public utterances, has carved for himself as someone who speaks boastfully of things and kids, he has also insulted many people and inflamed passions before, as we did witness.
This clearly demonstrates Kennedy’s lack of emotional intelligence (EG), considering the “things” he said in public before. Kennedy claims to always be telling the truth and standing for it by taking his own NPP officials and supporters on from time to time. This earned him some modicum of credibility
that if he was given a chance to lead the NPP as the flagbearer, he could do differently from the appalling performance of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime.
As one of the strong NPP presidential contenders then, Ken took on Bawumia and exposed his lies peddled in 2016. For instance, he touched on the fact that Dr. Bawumia made Ghanaians believe that he was going to strengthen the economy by containing the exchange rate, no borrowing, etc. These promises from Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia turned out to be a mirage under his watch as the Chairman of the Economy Management Team (EMT) in this Akufo-Addo-led regime.
Prior to the presidential race on November 4, Ken also alleged that Dr. Bawumia’s team wanted to give him $800 million to step down. After the presidential primaries, Ken also granted an interview with KSM’s Satire Show and said he would not accept a running-mate offer from Bawumia for obvious reasons.
Additionally, Ken chastised Dr. Bawumia’s use of a Mate during his major speech as the Flagbearer of the NPP and his biased selectivity; he associates himself with the digitalization vibe and distances himself from the bad economic situation facing the country now. Some rumors even had it that Ken could go independent in the 2024 presidential election, just as Alan Kyerematen did with his “Movement for Change.”.
However, Kennedy Agyapong’s recent U-turn decision to campaign for sinking Bawumia’s campaign has eaten up the little credibility left for him in the eyes of his supporters and many Ghanaians. The U-turn decision by Ken to publicly join Bawumia’s campaign raises more questions than answers. His U-turn decision also shows that Ken has no principles to rely on, and that erases his little credibility so far.
It is not surprising that some of his NPP supporters openly expressed their disappointment at Kennedy’s U-turn decision to join Bawumia’s campaign trail. The unqualified apology rendered by Ken to his support base is not enough and is a betrayal of their trust in him!
In conclusion, the decision of Kennedy Agyapong to make a U-turn and now campaign for uninspiring Dr. Bawumia will not yield any significant electoral benefit for the latter because
Neither Kennedy nor Dr. Bawumia has a much more viable message for Ghanaian voters than former President Mahama and Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang come December 7, 2024.
The inability of Dr. Bawumia to announce a running mate as of now is a testament to the difficult campaign ahead for the NPP as a whole. The sinking boat with Dr. Bawumia and the NPP cannot be rescued with the mere U-turn decision of Kennedy Agyapong to join Bawumia’s campaigns.
Ghanaians should vote wisely come December 7, 2024.