Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, an aspiring presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has challenged claims that he contributed to his party’s disastrous defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Speaking on Pan African TV’s “TalkTime” with Kwesi Pratt Jnr monitored by Kumasimail, Agyapong argued that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) primarily used sound bites from NPP’s 2024 flagbearer in their election campaign not from him.
Agyapong appeared visibly perplexed at the persistent narrative within the NPP that holds him responsible for their electoral loss.
“I was amazed that after the election, the party continues to blame me for our humiliating defeat,” he remarked.
“Look at NDC adverts. The number of adverts, what Bawumia said that they used against him, and compare to the number of adverts they said I have said that. They’ve never been fair. You see, they’ve never been fair,” he stated.
Elaborating on his outspokenness during his party’s tenure in government, Agyapong recounted personal business losses as a consequence of economic mismanagement and currency depreciation.
He detailed a major financial setback in March 2022, noting, “I had about 240 million cedis across six banks, waiting for a contract that was delayed and eventually cancelled. I paid a contractor $100,000 to order doors from Turkey, which at the time cost 600,000 cedis. When the goods arrived in August, clearing that same $100,000 now required 1,550,000 cedis due to the cedi’s depreciation.”
He explained, “In March 2022, 240 million cedis was equivalent to $40 million when the exchange rate was 6 cedis to a dollar. By August, with the rate shift, that value dropped to $15.48 million. I lost almost $25 million just because the funds were sitting in the bank. Am I the only businessman in the country suffering such losses? All my colleagues faced the same struggles.”
Agyapong also shared sobering encounters illustrating ordinary Ghanaians’ frustrations. At an agricultural bank, a staff member sarcastically recited a slogan popularized by the NPP’s then-flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“When the fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you.” The statement left Agyapong at a loss for words, reinforcing his concerns that the government’s messaging was backfiring.
He remarked “I was shock to hear that.”
Narrating another bank visit, he described how a usually cheerful staff member became despondent, struggling with personal financial losses from investment “haircuts.”
According to Agyapong, her situation showcased widespread disillusionment within the country and even among NPP loyalists.
He recounted, “Another time, one deputy chief executive in NPP, called me. She said Honourable my mother’s medicine if you don’t help me I can’t afford. She was a nurse in the UK, came back, invested a pension in these bonds.
“Now, listen to what she said. She said, I did finance in Toronto, University of Toronto. But what Ken Ofori Atta has brought I don’t even understand. Then I jokingly said, ah, but you did finance at University of Toronto, and me, Assin Adompem M/A middle School. Then she said, Honourable, look, I’m not joking. Is serious.”
Kennedy Agyapong said he pleaded with then-Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to address the public’s grievances over failing investments and eroding trust, warning that these issues might doom the party’s electoral chances.
“So I had to go to the minister. I said, minister this will cause us defeat. And even our own people are disgruntled. So if you can do something about it. If you remember very well, they extended the date. It’s because I spoke to him. Then he said, well, there’s nothing he can do,” he narrated.
Agyapong asserted that criticisms directed at him were misplaced. “Some candidates say, ‘because of Ken Agyapong, we lost the election. Did I say that when the fundamentals are weak, your exchange rate will expose you? The lady quoted it at the AGRIC bank. Did I say that I’m going to lock the dollar, it’s under lock and key, and give it to police or whatever?
“And you think I’m the only smartest human being in this country that did not listen or heard? And when they are losing their business and take a decision, now you use it against me that I caused their defeat.”
He insisted that his warnings to the party were meant as constructive criticism, urging introspection rather than scapegoating.
“All the things I said was a caution to them. If they had listened to me, there wouldn’t have been this humiliating defeat ever. But they didn’t listen. Because the whole party machinery was against Kennedy Agyapong. But, I leave it to God.”
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
