Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson for Kennedy Agyapong, former Member of Parliament for Assin Central, has clarified that the stabbing of a Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) student during the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) “Thank You” tour in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, April 29, was not the result of a fight between students, but rather an unprovoked attack by a macho man.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News the same day, Kwarteng firmly dismissed circulating reports suggesting the incident stemmed from a scuffle between students.
He explained that the victim, a member of Unity Hall’s Jama group from KNUST, had been stabbed by a macho man following a confrontation related to performance time and the distribution of money.
“I want to state on record and for the avoidance of doubt and purposes of clarity that it is not a case of disagreement between two students but a case of a macho man stabbing a student, and these are the facts,” he stated.
The Jama group had been contracted by Agyapong’s team to perform at the event held at the Bantama Pentecost Church on Tuesday, April 29.
According to Kwarteng, tensions flared when some attendees complained about the group’s prolonged display. During the confrontation, one of the macho men reportedly brandished a gun at the students.
“Subsequently, after we left the place, we heard of the stabbing incident. When we got to the police station, the narrative and the account that they gave was that when they were opposed for displaying, at that time, the same gentleman who stabbed them was the same person who at that point displayed a gun to them when they opposed or resisted the calls for them to go and sit down,” he recounted.
He further noted that a dispute over money also contributed to the altercation, though Kennedy Agyapong himself was not involved in handing out the funds.
“Even though it was a monetary issue, do not let us also miss that the monetary issue or disagreement was not between two students. It was not even Kennedy Agyapong who gave them the money, but a supporter of Kennedy Agyapong who gave an amount of GH¢1,000 for the students to share.”
Kwarteng alleged that after the money was handed over, the macho men returned, forcibly seized the cash, and launched an attack on the students.
“When they snatched the money, the student protested, which made the macho men, who were already sitting in the Toyota, start shooting, and the student even fled. At the expense of fleeing away, these guys still chased them and succeeded in stabbing one of the students,” he concluded.