Kennedy Agyapong, a candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer position, has defended his showdown remark made during the Special Delegates Conference on Saturday that went viral.
The Assin Central MP stated in a tweet that he was reacting against injustice because it put his polling station agent’s life in danger in the North East.
“I took action in the face of injustice, which helped save the life of GANIU, one of my North East polling station agents. #ShowDown.”
Following a lengthy, five-hour meeting with the NPP elections committee to discuss his concerns regarding the special delegates conference, Ken Agyapong provided his justification.
Speaking to the media, Kennedy Agyapong’s agent Alhassan Abdul Ganiyu said that he and two other agents were saved by his boss’s outbursts at the party’s special delegates conference last Saturday.
However, Mr. Ganiyu argued that without the intervention, both his life and the lives of the other agents would have been in danger.
“The regional chairman said they will give us some amount of money, GH¢2000 and we said no we are not there for money. He insisted that he would increase the money by GH¢1000 and we said no, we are not going to go by any amount.
“Whatever amount you are going to give to us, we are not ready for it. Then after we told him we were leaving, myself, Alan’s agent and Kwadwo Poku’s agent, we said we were leaving, he ran and locked the door…telling us to better go and sign.”
“He told us if we happen to move out he would allow the boys to attack us. And we said he should allow us to go so that the boys attack us on the way. So upon hearing the reportage, Honourable Kennedy quickly responded to what had transpired, they began to slow down the strategies and the pressure they were mounting on us. Then they all started moving out and we also had our way to move out,” he explained.
The campaign team for Mr. Agyapong, however, stated on Monday, August 28, 2023, that the showdown comment by Mr. Agyapong only meant that he was going to win the election on November 4 and should not be viewed as a threat to the president and vice president. This explanation conflicts with Mr. Agyapong’s explanation.
Meanwhile, Ken Agyapong, and the elections committee on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, had constructive discussions regarding Mr. Agyapong’s infamous showdown remark from the special delegates conference, according to the committee’s spokesperson, Alexander Afenyo Markin.
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, they “also had an opportunity to meet with one of the aspirants who made certain statements that went viral and had a positive engagement with him. And I must say that so far so good. We should be meeting again on Thursday and once we are done on Thursday, the committee should come out and make known to you its conclusion. But so far so good, all is well and we appreciate their cooperation so far.”
