Ken Agyapong most popular in NPP but delegates pick Alan as Akufo-Addo's successor

Maverick New Patriotic Party (NPP) legislator, Kennedy Agyapong, is the most popular person in the party after Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, according to a new book by pollster Ben Ephson.

The delegates, however, say the Assin Central Member of Parliament is unlikely to lead the party after Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – despite his popularity – because of his “quick temper”.

The book recently published by Mr Ephson is titled: ‘2020 Elections: Who wins?’

It also analyses the four years of President Akufo-Addo’s administration and compares this with the tenure of his main contender in the upcoming elections on December 7, former President John Dramani Mahama.

Mr Ephson told GhanaWeb that the research-heavy book first asked 4,079 NPP delegates the survey question: ‘Apart from Akufo-Addo, who do you think is the most popular person in the party?’

“Five names featured prominently in their answers: Kennedy Agyapong, Mahamudu Bawumia, Alan Kyerematen, Joe Ghartey and Dan Botwe.

"The results show that Kennedy Agyapong is the most popular among the delegates. Over 1,000 delegates mentioned his name, followed by Mahamudu Bawumia,” he said.



However, in the follow-up question: ‘Who would you want to be the party’s flagbearer after Akufo-Addo?’ although the same names featured prominently, this time Alan Kyerematen emerged as the delegates’ most favoured person to succeed Nana Akufo-Addo.

“Where the delegates did not pick the same name they had picked as being popular for a future flagbearer, we asked them to provide reasons. For Kennedy Agyapong, it was his quick temper. For Bawumia, they said he is young so he should hold on for some time,” Ben Ephson explained the survey results to GhanaWeb on Monday, November 23, 2020.

The surveys in the book, he explained, were conducted in 2018, however, the analyses on the administrations of Nana Akufo-Addo and John Mahama were completed days before the book went to print.