An aspiring presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Agyapong, has indicated that he will never withdraw from the party’s presidential contest.
He assured the delegates to disregard false claims that he would withdraw from the race at the tail end of the contest to declare support for another candidate.
“I can promise you I will never withdraw from our party’s flagbearer primary contest to declare my support for another candidate because I am capable of winning the slot to lead the NPP in the 2024 general election and not scared of my contenders,” Mr Agyapong stressed.
The NPP has settled on November 4, 2023, to hold presidential primary to elect flagbearer for the 2024 elections, nominations for the presidential primaries will open from May 26, 2023, and close on June 24, 2023 and for the parliamentary primaries, nominations will open on December 20, 2023, and close on January 4, 2024.
So far, eight stalwarts of the NPP who have made public their intentions to lead the party were Mr Agyapong, Mr Alan Kyerematen, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Mr Joe Ghartey, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, Mr Francis Addai-Nimoh, Mr Boakye Agyarko and Dr Konadu Apraku.
Addressing delegates of the NPP in New Juaben North Constituency in the Eastern Region, Mr Agyapong, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region, pointed out that he would retire from politics to enjoy his wealth “if delegates of our party continue to vote for people who take them for granted but I am dedicated, determined and committed to peaceful internal elections in the party and I will surmount any attempt to scare me or delegates into supporting another candidate”.
According to him, he would break the Dankwa-Busia-Dombo tradition of the NPP by adding grassroots tradition to take power away from the elites in the party to them.
He recounted huge financial and logistical support and assistance he personally sacrificed for the NPP since its formation in 1993 and accused some government appointees who had not spent a dime on the party but had become rich overnight due to arrogance of power.
“So let everyone have patience, we want peace, unity and harmony in NPP so we can win the elections but the fact that we want peace does not mean anyone should try and scare us, nobody can scare you when it comes to the primaries, vote for whomever you wish to vote for since you can make informed choice,” Mr Agyapong advised
