Sack Kwabena Agyepong – Dr. Amoako Baah to NPP - Rejoinder

By: Awuraa Esi Johnson

There is no doubt that problem exists within the top rank of the NPP. Incidents in the recent past and the fallout of the recent Steering Committee Meeting held on Monday May 4, 2015 attest to a party with issues at the top. It was argued before the party had the congress to elect its flag bearer that electing the leader early would allow him (the leader) enough time to deal with internal issues mostly, those that would arise from the leadership contest in order to bring everybody to work together as a team.

Seven months after the election of Akufo Addo for the third time as the party’s flag bearer, division amongst the top executives of the party seems to have widened and by all accounts seems to get deeper and deeper with each day goes by. Paul Afoko, the National Chairman and Kwabena Agyepong the General Secretary of the party have been accused of being the source of NPP leaks, working against Akufo Addo, working for the ruling NCD and so forth by their detractors, mainly Akufo Addo’s supporters. Almost every move by the two leaders have been viciously challenged including Hajia Fati, a known supporter of Akufo Addo who attempted to physically attack Kwabena Agyepong and issued verbal threats.

The question is where has Akufo Addo been in all of this? Why is it that after the rushed congress we still don’t see a path to unity? Why is the party slowly plunging into chaos? Why is it that after seven months of his victory we don’t have a campaign team and a manager in place? Was the rush to name the Vice-Presidential candidate more important than taking the appropriate steps to unite the party faithful?

It is alleged that Freddie Blay’s rush to call an emergency meeting of the Steering Committee was due to the fact that the chairman, Paul Afoko had failed to call meetings in the last two months. If this was the case, why is it that the rest of the executives, particularly, Freddie Blay could not compel him, the chairman to do so? Why was the issue not raised with the National Council but instead, took advantage of his absence when the General Secretary and the Second Vice-Chairman were also not available to call a meeting? Of course Kwabena Agyepong’s “eating Fufo in Kumasi” comment was unfortunate and did not show maturity. These are all signs of a party in chaos.

There is no doubt that the NPP has a serious leadership deficit. But, the toxic prescription provided by Prof. Amoako Baah, a Senior Lecturer of the KNUST is exactly what it is. TOXIC.

Kwabena Agyepong is an elected officer of the party. He works with other elected officers and the flag bearer. Prof. Amoako Baah having conceded that “Recent developments within the top rank of the NPP have confirmed perceptions of a deep rift especially between the Chairman and General Secretary on one hand, and the rest of the national executives and the flagbearer on the other” it defies every logic and common sense to ask the NPP to immediately sack Kwabena Agyepong from his elected role as the party’s General Secretary.

Kwabena Agyepong has a strong mandate of party members so; to single him out and sack him granting that there was somebody in the party with powers to do that, will not be a solution to that will bring about peace and unity in the party. Kwabena Agyepong has supporters and admirers who will not accept his sacking from his elected role and that will lead to an absolute mess in the party for many years to come and that’s if the party could stay intact in the face of such move. But, I would like to believe that Amoako Baah is not that naïve to make such a suggestion. So, why is Amoako Baah not suggesting that Akufo Addo be sacked immediately since under his leadership the party is in disarray? Is his part of the grand plan to frustrate Kwabena Agyepong and Paul Afok’s leadership?

The NPP indeed has a problem at the top that requires urgent attention if the party has any desire to win pack power. However, Prof. Amoako Baah, thanks but no thanks for your toxic advice on such an important issue. Please keep to your day time job and stop advising on political matters.