body-container-line-1
27.05.2015 Politics

I Won't Resign – Kwabena Agyepong

By Daily Guide
I Won't Resign – Kwabena Agyepong
27.05.2015 LISTEN

Beleaguered General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has called the bluff of those calling for his resignation together with the party's National Chairman, Paul Afoko.

Regional executives of the party have been mobilising support at various levels to get the two to resign over recent happenings in the party, with the latest being a call by the Council of Elders for them to step aside.

But Mr Agyepong reacted, “I am still at post. I have not resigned and I intend to complete my mandate” when news about his purported resignation went viral yesterday evening.

Sources said Kwabena Agyepong might have triggered the writing of the said resignation letter as a political strategy to enable him to speak out about the moves to get him out of office.

In an interview with Kasapa FM, he told host of 'Simi So', Kwaku Owusu Agyei, that he had not resigned and would never resign from the party.

He suspected his email had been hacked by some persons within the party who are bent on kicking him out of office.

That notwithstanding, he said he was not considering the option of leaving the party in the face of the vote of no confidence passed against his leadership.

Instead, Mr Agyepong said he would serve his full term and not bow to pressures.

Afoko and Agyepong have been blamed for the seeming tension and unending animosity in the NPP since they assumed office a little over a year ago, culminating in last week's callous murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the party, Adams Mahama, through acid attack.

Calls for Mr Afoko's resignation in particular have been fuelled by the arrest of his younger brother, Gregory Afoko, over the murder of Adams Mahama.

Gregory has since been charged for murder and placed in police custody.

Council Of Elders' Move
Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has stumbled on a copy of a letter dated May 25, 2015 and signed by Chairman of the NPP Council of Elders, C.K. Tedam, calling on the two embattled officers to step down.

It among other things stated that 'The Council of Elders, with the best of the party and country in consideration, decided unanimously to strongly advise you, the National Chairman of the party and the General Secretary of the party, to step aside from your party duties pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation into the murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the party.'

It continued, 'The Council believes that on the basis of your commitment to the success of the party in the forthcoming national elections and of your sincerity in the promotion of the general welfare of the party and the nation, you would respect both the spirit and letter of the advice given.'

Sources close to Messrs Afoko and Agyepong said they had indeed been served with copies of the letter asking them to step aside.

Nana Storms Headquarters
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, standard bearer of the party, visited the NPP headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra yesterday to get first-hand information about happenings in the party.

This was after attending the burial and funeral rites of Adams Mahama whose cold murder has triggered a wave of anger in the party in particular and the country at large.

Nana was met on arrival by the party's National Organiser, John Boadu, who briefed him about happenings since his (Nana's) absence, after which the flagbearer called for calm.

He subsequently spoke with the party's internal security details at the premises, the Invisible Forces, advising them to desist from any acts that would breed violence and set the party against itself.

The Invisible Forces, which seized the headquarters last week after the murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman, had since lifted its caveat, allowing party workers to go about their duties.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

body-container-line