Kennedy Agyapong, flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has cautioned his party against resorting to tribal politics.
He cautions that doing so will be inimical to the growth and development of the party in the long-term reiterating his wider call for fair treatment of all contenders in the upcoming flagbearership race.
He alleged that there are unacceptable instances were some northerners have threatened that unless Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is elected flagbearer, they won’t vote in the 2024 elections.
“Assuming the Vice President becomes the flagbearer… northerners go out there to say that without one of them, they won’t vote. Let Akans say the same and let’s see what happens.
“You have some elders saying that Mahama is challenging the NPP to present a northerner against the argument that NPP uses and dumps northerners. So those behind Bawumia seem to be listening to Mahama,” he submitted during a September 24 interview on US-based Kings Radio.
Agyapong also counted the potential flooding of the 2024 ballot paper by candidates of northern extraction citing the former president John Dramani Mahama’s candidature with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Hassan Ayariga of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Mahama is a northerner, assuming he wins; he is a northerner, Ayariga is a northerner and you’d get other northerners. Does it mean the face of Ghana politics will be only northerners? What at all is this?
“Things people cannot say is what I say, because the NPP must be careful with the tribal politics being played in the north, I am drawing their attention,” Agyapong added.
Bawumia is in pole position to emerge as flagbearer of the NPP having won the preliminary round of election held on August 26.
He came top in a pool of 10 candidates being pruned down to five with over 68% of total votes cast.
The final election is slated for November 4 with Bawumia coming up against three others – Kennedy Agyapong, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Francis Addai-Nimoh.
Ken Agyapong launches tribal tirade; questions why 'northerner' Bawumia should lead NPP in 2024
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