Renowned Ghanaian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong, has opened up about the health challenges he faced in 2008 when President Akufo-Addo lost the general elections.
Kennedy Agyapong, also a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in an interview with Kwaku Sintim-Misa on the KSM show, discussed his passionate involvement in elections, while addressing his loss to Bawumia in the Party’s flagbearer race on November 4th 2023.
Expressing discontent towards certain MPs who had in the past, received his support but opposed him publicly with insults towards Nov 4th, Agyapong vowed to make his displeasure known when dealing with such individuals in the future.
Clarifying that his straightforwardness shouldn’t be mistaken for bitterness, Agyapong stated, “I’m not bitter. It’s not every MP who didn’t vote for me that I’m angry at. No, everybody has a choice. But the very people who were my friends that I have helped to bring them to Parliament, it’s not a betrayal, but the things, the bad things they said about me, that is where I have a problem.”
Reflecting on past defeats, he recounted the 2008 elections when he ardently supported Akufo-Addo, leading to his own health issues. Agyapong admitted learning a lesson from that experience, emphasizing that he would campaign and contribute but not let electoral outcomes affect him to the extent of jeopardizing his health.
“I’m not peeved because I learned my lesson from 2008 when I put my resources, my soul and will, money, everything to support President Akufo-Addo”
“When he lost, I got a heart problem. So my doctors, they counseled me. They didn’t know I was a politician until they saw my heartbeat and all those things. So I learned my lesson from that time that I will campaign. I’ll do everything, but I’ll not religiously get involved and say that it’s do or die and therefore, if I don’t win or Mr. B doesn’t win, I should get heart problems. That has cushioned me,” he shared.
According to the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Akufo-Addo won the first round of voting with more than 49 percent of the vote, but he did not secure the required 50 percent plus one to avoid a run-off. He and his closest challenger, John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), advanced to a second round, held on December 28, 2008.
Mills was certified as the victor by a margin of less than one percent, winning the presidency on his third attempt. It is to date the closest election in Ghanaian history.
Akufo-Addo also lost the 2012 election to John Mahama of the NDC, amid controversy and a Supreme Court challenge. He finally won the presidency in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020.