Prof Gyampo
A political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has urged the leadership of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to openly condemn the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin-Central, Kennedy Agyapong for undermining the authority of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Mr. Agyapong in the wake of the lawlessness exhibited by the vigilante group affiliated with the NPP, the Delta Force, threatened to cause mayhem if the president through the National security minister does not desist from threatening to arrest him.
“I have said it, if he likes he should come and arrest me. I am ready for them; I have a lot of issues and if they do not take care I will bring the party down,” the Assin-Central MP said.
According to Prof. Gyampo, this open show of disrespect for authority was wrong and should be condemned by all and sundry.
In an interview yesterday, Prof. Gyampo noted: “What is worrying is that it looks as if in our body politic or in our multi-party democratic dispensation we tend to tolerate and glorify certain individuals who may have gained notoriety in causing disaffection for the party.
Certain individuals who may have gained notoriety in spewing political invectives and also inciting people to go on rampage or for violence and all that.”
He added: I am specifically referring to people like Kennedy Agyapong. The NPP over the years had been overly tolerant of the way and manner Mr. Agyapong had openly misconducted himself which is dangerous to the country’s tranquility.
Prof. Gyampo stated that he was not surprised when members of the vigilante group soon after Mr. Agyapong’s open disregard of the president’s orders raided a circuit court in Kumasi freeing 13 of their colleagues.
He said it was about time a spade is called a spade and that the conducts of the likes of Mr. Agyapong should be strongly condemned.
“So that if for nothing at all for the sake of party discipline if the whole Commander-in-Chief, the leader of a party, the head of state calls for calm and restraint and to say that those who have taken the laws in their hands must be brought to book.
We should respect what the president says. But we have a president coming up to say something and we have a senior person in the party also coming up to dare the president and all that.”
He was of the view that such a behaviour was unacceptable and it was about time those gaining notoriety within political parties for doing some of these things be condemned.”
– Starrfmonline.com.
