-As Amoako Atta Leads Ken’s Trial
-Party’s Disciplinary Committee Members Haunted By Their Own Scandals As They Move Against Firebrand MP
By Gifty Boateng
The New Patriotic Party has lit a fuse it may not be able to extinguish.
In a move dripping with irony, former Roads Minister Kwasi Amoako Atta a man whose tenure was dogged by corruption allegations has been handed the gavel to chair an eight-member disciplinary committee against Kennedy Agyapong.
The party has given the committee fourteen days to determine the fate of the Assin Central firebrand following a staggering ten petitions against him. But the move may prove to be political suicide for a party whose top hierarchy spent the past eight years cultivating scandals they would desperately prefer remain buried.
Amoako Atta, who presided over the roads sector during the Akufo-Addo administration, left office with his reputation in tatters. His stewardship was marked by abandoned projects, contract scandals, and allegations of financial malfeasance that, if fully investigated, could expose a web of rot that makes Agyapong’s alleged “sins” pale in comparison.
Yet here he sits, tasked with judging another man’s conduct.
The disciplinary committee reads like a who’s who of party figures with more skeletons in their closets than a cemetery. Hon. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the FORMER Western Regional Minister, faces questions over his handling of the region’s resources. Kwame Osei-Prempeh and the other members all have their own questionable pasts that the public is increasingly aware of.
Agyapong has already threatened to “spill the beans” on alleged wrongdoing within the party if attempts are made to silence him. This is not an empty boast from a man who has proven time and again that he fears no one.
Sources close to the former flagbearer aspirant reveal that he possesses information that could rock the party to its foundations details of contracts awarded, moneys mismanaged, and decisions taken during the NPP’s eight-year hold on power that have never seen the light of day.
“Ken has been in the party long enough to know where the bodies are buried,” a senior party figure told The New Republic on condition of anonymity. “If he is pushed into a corner, he will not go down alone. The question is whether the party leadership understands what they are playing with.”
Agyapong’s supporters have already seized on the glaring double standard, pointing to Bono Regional Chairman Kwame Baffoe, alias Abronye DC, who reportedly snubbed the same committee and dismissed it as a “kangaroo court” with complete impunity.
“How can the party summon Ken when Abronye walked away without consequences?” asked Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, a member of the Communications Team. “The party was unable to check Abronye’s excesses even after General Secretary Justin Frimpong Kodua referred him to the committee.”
The hypocrisy is staggering, and the party knows it.
Nearly every member of the top hierarchy, including some sitting on the disciplinary committee, has accumulated baggage during their years in government:
· Amoako Atta himself faces questions over road contracts that were awarded with indecent haste and projects that swallowed billions with nothing to show for them.
· Darko-Mensah’s tenure in the Western Region has been overshadowed by allegations of financial recklessness.
. Former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah was also involved in a scandal which exposed the rot in the NPP government circles.
· Even the party’s standard-bearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has found himself embroiled in controversies over the government’s economic management.
In a separate development that underscores the party’s precarious position, the National Council has cleared former Chairman Paul Afoko to contest for his old position, rejecting a petition that sought to block his ambitions.
The unanimous decision, taken at the same June 25 meeting, represents a victory for Afoko but raises questions about the party’s selective application of discipline. If Afoko who was previously removed from office can return, why can Agyapong not be given the same grace?
Sources indicate the petition against Afoko was presented by the Chairman of the Council of Elders, but the Council dismissed it after extensive deliberations, with speaker after speaker arguing against attempts to disqualify the former chairman.
However, political watchers note that Afoko faces an uphill battle, with Dr Bawumia from the north already as the party’s standard-bearer, making it unlikely delegates would also elect a northern national chairman under the party’s unwritten power-sharing formula.
Agyapong’s warning that he could “spill the beans” is not a threat to be taken lightly.
Over his years in Parliament and the party, the Assin Central MP has built relationships across the political spectrum. He has been a witness to decisions made in the corridors of power, has seen contracts awarded, and has watched as some party figures enriched themselves while the ordinary Ghanaian struggled.
“What Ken knows is a nuclear arsenal,” said a political analyst who spoke to The New Republic Newspaper. “If the party forces him to use it, there will be no winners. The damage to the NPP’s reputation will be catastrophic.”
The ten petitions against Agyapong range from accusations of anti-party activities by the Minority Health Committee MPs to complaints from Electoral Area Coordinators in Greater Accra who warn that his conduct threatens party unity.
Charles Opoku, deputy national TESCON Coordinator for New Juaben South, filed a petition dated June 18 accusing the senior party member of repeatedly making public statements against fellow members and taking positions that undermine cohesion.
At the heart of the crisis lies Agyapong’s explosive reaction to the Health Committee’s visit to the Afari Military Hospital a facility that the Akufo-Addo administration failed to operationalize despite significant public investment.
National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye confirmed the petitions stem from Agyapong’s utterances in response to that visit, where he questioned the party’s handling of the project and clashed with committee members.
But the real issue is Agyapong’s broader criticism of the party leadership and his warnings about the secrets he holds.
The tensions surrounding the Agyapong saga exploded on Thursday when activists stormed the Alisa Hotel in Accra during a party meeting, brandishing “Ken Must Go” banners.
Chaos erupted when a party security detail violently slapped one protester, sending him crashing to the ground in a scene that underscored the raw emotions and deep divisions within the NPP.
The incident has only heightened fears that the party is tearing itself apart at a time when unity should be paramount following its defeat in the 2024 general election.
The NPP’s decision to discipline Agyapong could cost the party far more than it bargained for:
First, there is the double standard argument. How can the party discipline Agyapong when others, like Abronye DC, have faced no consequences? The perception of selective justice will demoralize the rank and file and alienate Agyapong’s considerable support base.
Second, the committee members themselves are vulnerable. Any attempt to sanction Agyapong will invite scrutiny of their own conduct during the party’s years in power. They are judging a man whose sins are public while their own remain hidden.
Third, and most dangerously, Agyapong has the capacity to expose the party’s internal rot. If he decides to fight back by revealing what he knows, the NPP could face a catastrophic reputational collapse that would set the party back years.
The committee has been given a strict two-week deadline to submit its report to the National Council. But fourteen days is not enough time to contain the fallout that will follow any decision against Agyapong.
His supporters have already advised him against honouring any invitation from the committee, daring the party to first discipline Abronye. Some have even suggested that Agyapong should welcome the opportunity, not to defend himself, but to expose the hypocrisy of his accusers.
“Agyapong should appear before the committee and ask each member about their own conduct,” one supporter told The New Republic. “Let them explain their own scandals before they judge Ken.”
If the committee sanctions Agyapong, they risk unleashing a firestorm that could consume the party. If they let him off, they will be seen as weak and unable to enforce discipline.
Either way, the party loses.
The irony is that in trying to silence Agyapong, the NPP may have awakened a monster it cannot control. The former flagbearer aspirant has shown time and again that he is not afraid of confrontation, and he has the ammunition to destroy his accusers.
The next fourteen days will determine whether the NPP emerges from this crisis intact or whether it shatters into pieces, its leaders exposed and its reputation destroyed.
One thing is certain: the party’s leadership has made a grave miscalculation in underestimating the man they seek to discipline. Kenneth Ohene Agyapong is not a man to be cornered lightly.
And if he is pushed, he will take the entire NPP down with him.
The NPP’s disciplinary committee is holding a tiger by the tail. Every member of that committee has their own vulnerabilities, their own secrets from the past eight years. If Agyapong decides to fight back, the party could face an exposure unlike anything Ghanaian politics has ever seen.
The fourteen-day deadline gives the party leadership little time to find a face-saving exit from a crisis of their own making. The only question now is: who will blink first?