Audio: Kennedy Agyapong Isn’t A Presidential Material; I Will Be Surprised If NPP Votes Him – Senior Political Science Lecturer

A Senior Political Science Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Kwasi Amakye Boateng, says he expects the November 4 presidential primaries of the governing New Patriotic to be a one-horse race and a straight win for the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Dr. Amakye Boateng said he will be surprised if delegates of the NPP vote for Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, who shockingly emerged second in the super delegates’ conference ahead of Mr. Alan Kyerematen, who was considered to be a major contender in the race.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosiisen on Wednesday, September 5, the political scientist said once Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen has pulled out of the race citing electoral irregularities, and unfair treatment and bias during the super delegates’ conference, it is surely a done deal for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

“It’s a one-horse race and a straight win for Dr. Bawumia. I will be surprised if people in the NPP vote for Kennedy Agyapong. Kennedy Agyapong socially, traditionally, intellectually, he’s not a presidential material, and this must show. Ghanaians must demonstrate that we care about people who become our presidents”Dr. Amakye Boateng said.

“When you go into the literature of development, especially those that bother on the development of poor countries, there’s one key argument about leadership; there’s a short statement that says leadership matters, and that political leaders in such countries should be knowledgeable, at least in economics. They should be knowledgeably generally. I don’t know the last school Kennedy Agyapong attended and I don’t know what he learnt.”

When the host of the show, Osei Bonsu [Alias OB] reminded him that Dr. Kennedy Agyapong attended Fordham University in New York-USA, the Political scientist asked, “Did he attend as a full-time student or through a distant programme.”

When the host said he did not have an answer to that, Dr. Amakye Boateng proceeded and said, “I am not sure he [Kennedy Agyapong] attended as a full-time student. What period did he attend the school? When you go to school and acquire knowledge, those of us watching from afar can attest to that. It’s one thing having a certificate, and there’s another thing through your actions and inaction, demonstrating that some new values have been placed in you.

When you take the social traditional issues, if you conduct yourself in public the way you do even in the last election, his pronouncements are very unbecoming of a potential president. You can engage a woman who might have hurt you in whatever way openly in public and use certain words, words that traditionally can cause you to be dragged before a queen mother and be penalized; then you suddenly turn around to say you want to be president. On whose seat?” he quizzed.

Dr. Amakye Boateng reiterated that he does not expect Kennedy Agyapong to do well in the November 4 presidential primary.

So, on the basis of these, the party faithful should not vote for him. And nobody should tell us that he’s going to be able to influence with money. The establishment should be stronger financially than him as an individual. I don’t expect him to do well, it’s a one-horse race.”

Asked whether he did not think it was time the country makes room for people who may not possess all the academic requirements or the conventionally accepted norms and values to lead the country, Dr. Amakye Boateng said, the social mediators that exist in Ghana’s context cannot allow that to happen.

“Do you think what we call home sense can be situated in the context of the man [Kennedy Agyapong] we’re referring to?”

In response to the example of businessman Donald Trump becoming the President of the United States, Dr. Amakye Boateng argued that, “The Donald Trump case is very special. It borders on racism in the United States of America.

He [Donald Trump] speaks the language of the racists, white supremacists and that’s what they want to do; that’s what they want to hear. That is why in the United States, even after an election that elected a President they said they won’t agree. That incident was an attempted coup d’état. Ghana doesn’t have that challenge that will border strongly on ethnicity and so people will support a particular person in a blind fashion. It won’t happen “he noted.

When he was reminded about the fact that there are qualified people without high academic credentials who have contributed meaningfully to national development by creating jobs through businesses, and can therefore contest for the presidency, the political scientist said, in the case of Kennedy Agyapong, it must be confirmed if he’s indeed a tax-paying businessman whose entire wealth was genuine proceeds from his businesses.

 

Listen to the audio below

 

Mr. Kennedy Agyapong, known for his no-nonsense posture but also perceived to be hot-headed by others, surprised many when he emerged as second in the NPP’s super delegates’ conference, which was held on August 26 to select five out of the ten presidential candidates for the main election on November 4.

In the regional breakdown of the super delegates’ conference, for instance, Mr Kennedy Agyapong garnered more votes in some regions than Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.

 

 

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