Kwabena Agyepong who served as Press Secretary to former president John Agyekum Kufuor between 2001 and 2006 has said he declined a ministerial appointment offered to him by his boss after serving for almost six years. The decision to not accept the appointment, according to Kwabena Agyepong was informed by the quest to exit from the administration and focus on some other equally important activities. “It was fine,” he said in response to whether or not it was a peaceful exit. “I just felt I had to leave politics, so, although the president called me and offered me a deputy ministerial position, I respectfully declined.” Sharing his work experience with the former president, Mr. Agyepong told Deloris Frimpong Manso on The Delay Show that his boss was indeed a diplomat. “Mr. Kufuor is a very quintessential diplomat and democrat. He worked with the IGP the previous government appointed for over six months when he assumed office. Persons who occupied some of the key positions experienced same. He did so just to get a smooth transition,” the former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) remarked. Meanwhile, Agyepong has said he never acquired any property during his tenure as Press Secretary to Mr. Kufuor. Establishing that the desire to do politics was borne out of passion, selflessness, and service to the country, Agyepong expressed optimism in becoming president of Ghana as he readies to contest in the NPP presidential primaries. “Our budget is always in deficit; we need to cut our coat according to the size of cloth we have. We need to be truthful to Ghanaians. For instance, if we cannot construct new roads and put together a proper maintenance review. We like constructing new things without providing any form of maintenance for the old ones. “The value system in this country has disappeared, it has collapsed. Those are the changes I believe it is time for a new dawn, a new dimension, and a new direction,” Mr. Agyepong said while underscoring the need to serve instead of amassing wealth to the detriment of the Ghanaian people. BB