
Kwabena Agyei Agyepong
A former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has stated that the flagbearership contest of the party is not a two-horse race between Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia and Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, as widely perceived.
Speaking in an interview with the media, he said there are other aspirants lacing their boots, just in wait for nominations to open.
“I have not ruled myself out at all for this battle,” he said, recounting that in 2007 he was the youngest of the 17 presidential aspirants.
“I think it is very important that we let the Ghanaians know that our party has a time-honoured tradition that that decision cannot be earned through coercion, endorsements or force. It has to be earned by people showing respect, going to the various places,” he added.
He stressed that any member of the party seeking the mandate of the rank and file to lead must make sure he makes that nationwide tour to every nook and cranny of the country.
“There will be no coronation in New Patriotic Party. If you want to win, move around the country, sell your message. You have to earn it,” he emphasised.
Ex-gratia
Turning attention to other issues, Mr Agyei Agyepong observed that it is wrong to pay ex-gratia to persons who serve in office for a particular period of time and later come to office again.
In his view, ex-gratia should not be given to Members of Parliament who return after serving a term.
His reaction comes on the back of the decision by the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, to refund the ex-gratia paid him for serving on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
“I have heard about the issue of ex-gratia. I do not understand why if you are in Parliament, you finish the term, and you are coming back you should be given ex-gratia, you shouldn’t. Ex-gratia is when you are going and you are not coming back. It is like a parachute payment for you to survive because you contributed immensely to the state. So, those who have been in Parliament for five, six, ten years, like Alban Babgin, Kyei Mensah Bonsu, have been taking these ex gratia every year; it is wrong. This is wrong, and we have to change it,” he said.
He added: “These are things we have to speak about. When you are leaving office forever and you are not coming back then you can be given that kind of payment, but you can’t come back and say ‘it is a second term’. I think it is wrong.”
Gov’t reshuffle
He also indicated that it is new in the country that for six years there had not been any major reshuffle among ministers under the Akufo-Addo government.
“What is happening is novel,” he said, adding that “after the first four years in office, the President would change some of his appointees following the way Ghanaians voted in the 2020 elections”.
He, however, recognised that it is the prerogative of the President to hire and fire, and that he is not the one to tell the President what to do.
Mr Agyei Agyepong, who is also a civil engineer, further reacted to a comment by the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, that it would cost the government over US$5 billion to solve Ghana’s perennial flooding situation.
According to the former NPP Chief Scribe, city authorities got the basics in their planning, hence the recurrence of floods in parts of the country, especially the capital.
He therefore advised the government not to throw money into the efforts to resolve flood problem because it is not just about money, but proper planning.