The former speaker of Parliament and a member of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Council of Elders, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has urged the party’s leadership to, as a matter of urgency, call the outgoing Member of Parliament (MP) for the Assin Central constituency, Mr. Kennedy Agyapong, to order.
Professor Mike Oquaye’s comments come on the back of recent attacks from Mr. Agyapong on the minister responsible for Works and Housing and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama constituency, Honourable Francis Asenso Boakye, over the minister’s alleged collusion with the judicial services to sell state lands to private developers.
He then called on delegates to reject Mr. Asenso-Boakye in the party’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
“Kennedy Agyapong made a public statement that the elections were free and fair. In the interest of the party, I will think that the elders, of which I am one, and the national executive must put it on their agenda to ensure that everybody is put in a certain order,” the former speaker of the legislature stated.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Works and Housing, in a press release, said it “strongly refutes the allegation,” stating that “there has been no such sale of the property.”
“The facts are that the current developments taking place at the official residence of the late Justice Marful-Sau form part of the Government Redevelopment Programme (GRP),” the statement emphasised.
According to the Ministry, the GRP, which dates as far back as 1992, has since its inception, been widely implemented by successive Governments within the Greater Accra Region, specifically in Kanda, Cantonments, West Ridge and Roman Ridge.
It further explained that “on 14th May 2018, Cabinet approved a revised scheme regarding the GRP to include other neighbourhoods such as Osu Ringway, Airport Residential Area, and Labone.”
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The outgoing NPP MP, Mr. Agyapong, at a gathering with some Bantama delegates to whip up support for his brother, Ralph Kwame Agyapong, who is contesting for the Bantama seat as the closest contender to the Housing Minister, rained a barrage of attacks on the incumbent Member of Parliament for the NPP, Mr. Asenso-Boakye, accusing him of collusion with the judicial services to sell the residence of the late former Supreme Court judge, Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, to a private developer.
Can Dr. Bawumia intervene?
As Mr. Agyapong continues to attack people within the party he believes were against him in the party’s flagbearership race, there are calls for the party’s flagbearer, Dr. Bawumia, to intervene.
A political analyst, Dr. Jonathan Asante Otchere, underscored that the vice president will “incur Ken Agyapong’s displeasure if he does intervene.”
“I think that to tackle him [Ken Agyapong] head-on with sanctions and other things will not inure to the benefits of the party. The man says he does not really have anything against Dr. Bawumia but there are certain characters within the party that may have impuned his integrity, and therefore he may want to deal with them,” Dr. Otchere told Alfred Ocancey on Ghana Tonight.
The NPP delegates will elect parliamentary candidates on Saturday, January 27, 2024. This election will be held in constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament ahead of the December 7 general elections.