Kwabena Agyapong is a former General Secretary of NPP
Kwabena Agyapong, a former General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and an aspiring presidential candidate, asserts that the party’s recent decision to formally declare the National Chairman as its leader “at all material times” is nothing new.
He views the amendment, approved at the national delegates’ conference, as mere semantics.
Speaking to Kwabena Agyapong on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM’s Frontline, Mr Agyepong emphasised, “The National Chairman has always been the leader of the party, whether in opposition or in government.”
He elaborated on his perspective: “I don’t understand this amendment because we all know the National Chairman is the leader of the party and chairs all committees of the party. It’s not a new phenomenon. I clearly remember that under former President Kufuor, attempts were made to make the president the leader of the party, but the members resisted it. So, we all know the president isn’t the leader of the party, and neither is the presidential candidate.”
However, Agyapong acknowledged the unique importance of the presidential candidate.
“We’ve also come to accept that the presidential candidate is the most important personality, the one most likely to secure victory for the party in an election. Regardless of whether the Chairman is the leader, once a presidential candidate emerges, they become the most important personality whom we have to market and ensure gets elected as president. So, I don’t fully grasp the fuss about these changes. But we are here now, and we’ll have to accept it.”
He continued, “The bottom line is, we know the Chairman is the one who chairs council meetings, even with a president in attendance. I feel that at the end of the day, let’s be reasonable, pragmatic, and practical about these things. The moment we elect our presidential candidate, he or she becomes the one we have to market so Ghanaians will vote for them. The candidate should be the one we support, and the planning we put in place for them is key.”
Kwabena Agyaepong also voiced his concerns about the delegates’ conference, specifically criticizing the use of a voice vote to amend parts of the constitution. He deemed this approach “unconstitutional” and urged the party to avoid similar actions in the future.
He suggested a more appropriate method: sending all proposed amendments to the various constituencies for deliberation and voting. Their decisions would then be submitted to the delegates at the conference, and the results officially announced.
“That was unfortunate, but generally, I think it was a good conference,” he concluded.
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