Ken Agyapong on how he spent GH¢1m for 2nd deputy speaker to join NPP majority
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, an aspiring presidential candidate on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been narrating the role he played to ensure that the NPP had a majority caucus in the current Parliament.
After Election 2020, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had 137 seats while the NPP also had 137 seats.
With one independent Member of Parliament from Adansi Fomena, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, his decision on which side to join in the House became critical to both the NPP and the NDC.
Andrew Amoako Asiamah was an NPP member and had entered Parliament previously on the ticket of the party.
But he had fallen out with the NPP during the electioneering campaign towards 2020 and the party had expelled him. It started with the Fomena constituency primary, he lost and accused the constituency chairman Kwasi Nti of manipulating the electoral roll against him.
Following the disagreement, he decided to contest as an independent candidate against all odds and went ahead to win. The party per the rules had expelled him because he contested as an independent and therefore when the rejected stone became the head corner stone, it was difficult for the NPP leadership to approach Mr Asiamah for his support.
According to Mr Agyapong, that was when he decided to intervene and approached Andrew Asiamah for support and insisted the party needed him on the majority side without which, the majority caucus was going to slip to the NDC.
Mr Agyapong who was speaking to NPP delegates in Tema said that it took his intervention and his GH¢1 million for the condition given by Asiamah Amoako, who is now the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, to be met, which made him join NPP side in the House.
Mr Agyapong said but for his intervention, the NPP will not have majority in Parliament after the 2020 elections.
He said the condition Mr Amoako Asiamah gave when he approached him was that, the NPP constituency chairman for Adansi Fomena, Kwasi Nti was to be made to resign before he will join the majority caucus.
The chairman had some disagreement following which Mr Asiamah lost the parliamentary primary and therefore did not contest the election on the ticket of the NPP but as an independent candidate and went ahead to win.
According to Mr Agyapong, he spoke to the Adansi Fomena NPP chairman and he told him he would have resigned but he was indebted to a rural bank to the tune of GH¢1.5 million and needed to pay the debt before he steps down as constituency chairman.
Ken Agyapong added that he paid GH¢1 million of the debt of the Adansi Fomena NPP Chairman, which led him to resign, for Asiamah Amoako to join the NPP caucus for them to form the majority side.
Ken Agyapong on how he spent GH¢1m for deputy speaker of parliament to join NPP majority caucus https://t.co/HCVmvOqDho pic.twitter.com/ahitVQWLlh
— GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) April 16, 2023
Ken Agyapong on how he spent GH¢1m for deputy speaker of parliament to join NPP majority caucus https://t.co/HCVmvOrb6W pic.twitter.com/VdUUtJTzx7
— GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) April 16, 2023
Source: graphic online
