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Petition for the Removal of
Kwabena Agyepong is a mere ruse
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Folks, you must have already read the news report
carried by Myjoyonline.com that some card-bearing
members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are piling
pressure on the leadership of the party to begin
processes to oust Kwabena Agyepong as the party's
General Secretary.
The four petitioners are Chris Arthur, Former
TESCON-KNUST President; Adreba Kwaku Abrefa Damoa,
London; Kwabena Afum Dankwa, London; and Kwame
Baffoe, NPP Regional Youth Organiser, Brong-Ahafo
Region.
Their reasons?
1. Agyepong's "... exhibiting gross misconduct, and
engaging in deals tantamount to venality whiles in
his elected position as General Secretary”.
2. His "still holding out Paul Afoko as the National
Chairman contrary to the position of the National
Executive Committee". (“Kwabena Agyepong has
rubbished, and keeps rubbishing the suspension of
Afoko from his chairmanship. This in our view is an
act of mischievous contempt for the authority of the
Party as a whole, including its elders, its
leadership, and its structures.”)
3. Agyepong's "taking unilateral decision as a
General Secretary with particular mention of a
waiver he gave to some party parliamentary aspirants
and the launch of a party card".
4. Agyepong's utterances and statements in the media
are “always inimical, and counterproductive to the
efforts made by the flag bearer, whiles he
contributes little or nothing towards building a
strong Party, knowing very well that general and
Presidential elections are less than a year away.”
5. Agyepong's being involved in too many
misdemeanours which are injurious to the fortunes of
the party.
6. Agyepong's "questionable" allegiance to the NPP
and his flirting with the governing National
Democratic Congress. (See
http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2015/November-4th/npp-leadership-petitioned-to-show-kwabena-agyepong-the-exit.php#sthash.Zp5Te54z.dpuf)
MY COMMENTS
This move is as shameful as it is mischievous to
create a misleading impression that the NPP isn't
functioning on the basis of ethnicity. It is a pure
Asante-Akyem hegemonistic cabal being led by an
overly power-hungry Akufo-Addo that won't tolerate
any dissension. Axing Paul Afoko has a lot more to
do with that disposition than the trumped-up
allegations levelled against him. In any case, those
allegations are as childish and self-damaging as
will be proved by later developments.
What has been initiated against Agyepong is a mere
ruse. It won't see the light of day for many
reasons:
Unlike Afoko, Kwabena Agyepong is one of them (the
Asante-Akyem cabal) with a deep tap root in that
political culture. The NPP has done negative
politics with the dastardly abduction and murder of
the three High Court judges (one of whom was
Agyepong's father) and Major Sam Acquah. They won't
negate their own political capital by neutralizing
him just like that.
In other words, Agyepong has a backbone and cannot
be broken as easily as has been done to Afoko,
someone with no tap root in the NPP but a ridiculous
reference to the "Dombo" afterthought in that
political tradition. He could be easily dealt with
as an outsider. And if he is wise, he should find
his way out before they harm him all the more. A
Builsa royal of his sort shouldn't allow himself to
be so denigrated by the "Kabonga" mafia.
For Kwabena Agyepong, not so. His prominent role in
the Kufuor administration also speaks a lot for him,
which explains why he has so much bravado to do and
say things as he does. He cannot be easily bent or
broken.
The NPP's National Executive Committee or National
Council (whether of elders or whatever) will not
meet to discuss this petition against Agyepong
because it won't want to touch one of its own
"royals" in that political cabal without looking
over shoulders in constant fear of losing grounds in
the party's stronghold.
After all, Agyepong knew that Afoko had been
suspended but went ahead to insist that he still
recognized him as the NPP's National Chair. And he
refused to attend yesterday's NEC meeting because he
didn't want to be part of the massive illegality
that anything done without Afoko's involvement has
become.
In effect, then, Agyepong doesn't recognize Freddie
Blay as the Acting Chair and won't allow himself to
be cajoled either. He has nerves and must know what
he is standing on to behave that way. He is no mere
dare devil at this point.
None of those being petitioned will raise any
eyebrow either. They know as much as Agyepong does
that "things will knock things" more roughly if he
is touched.
It is clear that any decision to axe Agyepong will
automatically seal Akufo-Addo's sad fate long before
Election 2016 is held. Mark it down that the
reported lukewarm attitude toward him from Kumasi
(Ashanti Region) as we were told by Samuel Boafo is
just a child's play thing. If they have the guts,
let them do to Agyepong what they did to Afoko, and
we shall all see hell break loose in that cabal.
Again, if the NEC of the NPP decides to act on the
petition, it will itself be torn apart, clearly
because of expected dissension in its own ranks as
to what to do to Agyepong.
Intriguingly, if they fail to act on the petition
too, they will be setting themselves up for a huge
mockery. So, they are now stuck between the devil
and the deep blue sea. The question, then, is: What
will the NPP's NEC or Disciplinary Committee do
about this petition against Agyepong?
I suspect strongly that some behind-the-scene moves
will be made to douse the fire (which will
definitely cast these NPP leaders in a bad light) or
the NEC will push the petition to the back burner
and simply gloss over it (as if sleeping dogs will
want to be left to lie).
Knowing them for their political rhetoric, I expect
them to begin making utterances---in fact, talking a
lot but making no sense at all---to divert attention
from this petition to other issues. Then, the matter
will die a natural death. But how will Agyepong
continue to function as the General Secretary in
this circumstance? That is a thorny issue for these
self-righteous gasbags!!
Meantime, if suspended eventually, will the NPP go
into Election 2016 with an Acting National Chair and
an Acting General Secretary? Laughable. I suspect
that after a while, the NEC will convene to confirm
Blay as the substantive National Chair, provided no
internal agitation dislodges him from his new-found
position. Such a political prostitute is making the
NPP all the more unattractive. Why are these people
so good at pouring sand into their own gari?
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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