Kennedy Agyapong, Member of Parliament for Assin Central and flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has not achieved any of its campaign promises since coming into office in 2017. He has, thus, expressed disappointment over the party’s inability to fulfill its campaign promises and effectively combat corruption.
According to him, even though the party has failed to honor its promises, the blame should be placed on both the NPP government and the judiciary for the lack of progress in tackling the said canker. “To be frank with you, whatever we said during the campaign, we have not been able to do it, fighting corruption but I will give him (president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo) the benefit of the doubt because there are so many cases that have gone to court and manipulation and whatever, none of them (have concluded). “They have not even completed about five of them, so Ghanaians are impatient and because of that people are doing things with impunity,” he said.
He acknowledged that while there have been efforts to address corruption cases, many of them have faced prolonged delays due to alleged manipulation and inefficiencies within the judiciary. Speaking in a Face-to-Face interview with Umaru Sanda on Citi TV on August 15, 2023, he emphasized the need to be objective and fair in assigning blame for the lack of progress.
The Assin Central lawmaker suggested that the judiciary’s slow handling of corruption cases had hindered the government’s ability to effectively address the issue. “I am not condoning anything but what I am saying is, the judiciary is part of the problem and the government is also part of the problem, so you cannot accuse only the government because at least he has set an example of sending cases to the court and I have given you one example where six years nothing has been done and all those things.” He added” “You see, the problem is that I think whatever we said, we made a mistake by not changing and conscientizing Ghanaians because if we want to fight corruption in this country, whatever decision that we are coming out with, Ghanaians should be partners.
“Partners in the sense that we should educate Ghanaians to let them know that this has gone wrong and we have to correct it, if we don’t, it is not good for our country and it is not good for development.” Kennedy Agyapong will contest for the flagbearership slot along with nine other contenders including former trade minister Alan Kyerematen and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who are seen as his main challengers.
The NPP will slash the 10 candidates, who passed the vetting stage, down to five in a preliminary vote (set for August) before the main contest is held in November 2023 to elect a successor to president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as leader of the party.
