Presidential hopeful Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has taken a swipe at the campaign slogan adopted by supporters of former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, describing it as misleading and mathematically unsound.
Followers of Dr. Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 flagbearer, have been pushing the catchphrase “Aka9 P3” on social media.
They argue that since their candidate secured 42 percent of votes in the 2024 general elections, the NPP requires only an additional nine percent to reclaim power in 2028, and delegates should therefore rally behind him.
But Mr. Agyapong, in an interaction with party faithful, rubbished the logic behind the slogan.
He pointed to the 1.7 million-vote gap that separated Dr. Bawumia from former President John Mahama in the last polls, arguing that such a deficit cannot be brushed aside with a “simple percentage calculation.”
“Nationally, we lost by 1.7 million votes. When will that gap be bridged?” Mr. Agyapong asked.
“The last time I heard someone say ‘Aka9,’ I remembered Mahama. He lost by one million votes and it took him eight years to return. If one million equals eight years, then if you lose by 1.7 million, what is X? Find X,” he quipped, drawing applause from his audience.
Mr. Agyapong becomes the second NPP presidential aspirant, after Dr. Bryan Acheampong, to openly criticize the “Aka9 P3” message, which has become a rallying cry for the Bawumia campaign.
Kennedy Agyapong concluded “They (Bawumia’s camp) say Mahama went into the opposition and returned after eight years. Okay, that’s fine. But if you use that analogy, Mahama lost by a million votes and took eight years to close the gap. So, if you went into opposition with a 1.7 million-vote deficit, how many years will it take you to bridge that gap?”
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
