Angry Akufo-Addo, Vote Against Professor Oquaye: The genesis of NPP MPs' 'Ken Must Go' protest

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has given details of what led to the ‘Ken Must Go’ protest against former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, by some NPP legislators.

Speaking during a panel discussion on Metro TV, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, Eugene Antwi said that the protest started because President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo refused to meet them.

He said that the NPP MPs wanted to meet Akufo-Addo because of some statements he had been making which they thought would affect the fortunes of the party in future elections.

“The president went to Otec Radio, at that time, the Kwabre chiefs, who gave us the highest votes in the Ashanti Region, were demanding quality roads which they had every right to do… they held a press conference dubbed ‘the ingrate must remember’.

“The president was at Otec, I was watching live, and he said ‘Your thumb is yours, you can vote for the NDC if you want.' I was shocked. I asked myself whether this was happening or it was a slip of the tongue. But it wasn’t because he (Akufo-Addo) repeated himself,” he said.

The MP said that attempts to meet the president proved futile which forced them to hold the ‘Ken Must Go’ press conference.

He claimed that Akufo-Addo refused to meet them because some of them voted against Prof Mike Ocquaye during the election of the Speaker of the 8th Parliament.

“Like-minded colleagues of mine met and the meeting took place in my house, 42 members of parliament and I invited Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Honourable Joe Wise to come and join. We wanted to go and meet the president quietly. We wanted to speak about matters of our house. Nobody was interested in the press conference.

“We all worked for him to be elected president and for us to be elected Members of Parliament. We wanted to see him and have a discussion with him concerning some of the things that he had been saying. He may not run again but we have elections to win as a party. We couldn’t meet our president… his own MPs couldn’t meet. Because some of the MPs had voted against Mike Ocquaye,” he said.

The MP strongly criticized Akufo-Addo's decision to retain Ken Ofori-Atta in office, attributing it as a key factor in the ruling NPP's loss in the 2024 General Election.

In a recent statement, Antwi explained that the party’s failure to act on calls for Ofori-Atta’s removal, despite widespread public outcry over his handling of the economy, alienated voters and led to widespread apathy.

According to Antwi, a group of 90 NPP MPs had urged President Akufo-Addo to relieve Ofori-Atta of his duties, citing his mismanagement of the nation’s finances. However, the finance minister remained in office until February 2024, which, Antwi believes, contributed to the erosion of voter confidence in the NPP.

Antwi highlighted the significant voter apathy observed during the elections, noting that nearly a third of registered voters – approximately 6 million people – chose not to visit their polling stations to vote. This, he suggests, is a direct consequence of the government’s failure to address the economic hardships faced by many Ghanaians under Ofori-Atta’s stewardship.

Watch a video of his remarks below:

NPP needs open heart surgery - Angry Subin MP blames Ofori-Atta, Akufo-Addo, Gabby Otchere-Darko and more for election defeat#GoodMorningGhana #MetroTV pic.twitter.com/aaAbFKeDpO

— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) December 10, 2024

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