If Politics is the platform for the gathering of all sorts- rich, poor, moderate, radical, conservative and controversial, what you get is fiery competition.
The Kennedy Agyapong story is the perfect one for the different spectrums of politics. Loathed by some for his temperament and equally loved by others for his ability to connect to the grassroot and his common man rhetoric.
This is a man who says he only dreams of money and fights when he sleeps. A year ago, the Assin Dompin native and Adisadel College old boy claimed he did not even want to be president.
He said “I don’t want to be President. I have said that you don’t need to be President to effect change in people’s lives, so whatever I’m doing in my own small way. I donated to 37 not because I am a Member of Parliament. I donated all these PPEs not because I am a Member of Parliament so get it straight. I’m saying that you don’t need only to be President to effect change in people’s lives again, that also doesn’t mean I’m not competent to do it.”
A few months later, he was throwing his hat into the race promising to deal with unemployment, create prosperity from tourism and run an efficient government based on his success in business captured in his mantra PHD.
Of his vision, he says “an experienced businessman and entrepreneur, my experiences, I will bring it to bear on the situation in the country. I have sat down carefully and analysed the situation and the challenges of this country. There are three key areas that if we use that, we can change the fortunes of this country. These are; Patriotism, Honesty and Discipline.
The Fordham University drop out believes that he has the best track record to tackle the most pertinent issues in the country. As a self-described hustler, he says he made his fortune off the streets of Germany and the United States where he facilitated the American dream of many through the visa lottery program and ran a taxi business.
Kennedy Agyapong is a strong advocate for what he calls a common-sense approach to governance, pragmatism and abhors the proverbial ‘booklong’ outlook to governance that he blames for Ghana’s woes. In terms of dealing with unemployment, he has an ally in Political Scientist, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante. Who however, disagrees with his view on the theory of how things work.
“I concede that sometimes the things he says are of basic knowledge and comes naturally. He places emphasis on practice rather than theory and that’s where I disagree with him, because Immanuel Kant says theory without practice, is empty but practice without theory is blind,” Dr Asah-Asante expolains.
Kennedy Agyapong shocked his way into second place in August during the super delegates election. The polls still look good for him. Some say his performance in August accounts in part, for Alan Kyerematen’s withdrawal from the race to go solo.
Global Info Analytics’ Mussa Dankwa says the polls from his firm look good for Kennedy even though he still trails Vice President Bawumia “Surprisingly, Kennedy Agyapong is leading in the Ashanti region, He also leads in the Central region as expected, but on the national level, he is behind Dr Bawumia by about 20 points.”
Kennedy Agyapong has been chastised for his brand of politics and his tribal diatribe, but some say this approach energizes the party’s base. And this presidential primary is about the base, about the grassroot of the party. It is also the reason why many experts reckon Kennedy Agyapong will be formidable competition for Vice President Bawumia.