Western Regional Minister and Member of Parliament for Takoradi, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, has criticised his colleague and Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong.
The minister accused Agyapong, a candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearership, of being selfish and unfair in his attacks on the administration and another NPP candidate, Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia.
The minister defended Bawumia from a withering attack by Ken Agyapong, who recently blamed Bawumia for Ghana’s economic troubles, in an interview on Takoradi-based Radio 360 on Monday (July 17).
Darko-Mensah argued that COVID was to blame for the economic downturn, and that fact has been confirmed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is currently bailing out Ghana.
“..we were all in the country when COVID broke. Were you the one who manufactured COVID? Even the IMF who are giving us a bailout said we (NPP) did not create the problem, as our economic challenges are as a result of COVID,” he stressed.
Additionally, Darko-Mensah pointed out that take-or-pay energy-sector contracts, signed during the previous government’s tenure, contributed significantly to the economic challenges. He questioned the relevance of such contracts to Dr. Bawumia, himself, or Ken Ofori-Atta’s decision to seek assistance from the IMF.
Regarding Kennedy Agyapong, Darko-Mensah highlighted that the MP has been a major recipient of government contracts for several years. He suggested that Agyapong should consider returning those contracts and refrain from accepting any new ones due to the current economic challenges faced by the country.
“Ghana is a member of the IMF and they have given us some assistance during COVID. Since Ghana went to the IMF the cedi is stabilising …what intrigues me however is, between you and I, we all know one of the biggest government contractors is the man you are talking about (Kennedy Agyapong).
“When things were bad and he was benefitting, that was right, but now that he wants to be a presidential candidate, he has forgotten about all those benefits he derived and wants us to forget about all that?
“Then he should reverse (sic) all those contracts he earned and hand it to others and say because Ghana is now back to the IMF, I will not take any government contract again. If he continues like that then technically you want to act like a greedy person who wants to benefit both ways.
“If he wants to find someone to blame for Ghana going to IMF, why won’t he also along the lines of equity say that he will not take any of the contracts he is taking during this IMF period? He is just misleading people and it needs to be straightened,” the minister added.