I’m not going to be a ‘mate’ – Ken Agyapong on why he’s uninterested in being Bawumia’s VEEP

Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful Kennedy Agyapong appears to have taken a swipe at Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia over the latter’s assertion that he is just like a driver’s mate in the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government and should be made president – the driver – so he can implement “his own vision.”

In a snippet of the KSM show, which would be aired on February 23, 2024, Ken Agyapong gave reasons why he cannot be a vice president in Ghana.

He indicated that he would not accept an offer from Dr Bawumia, the flagbearer of the NPP, to be his running mate for the 2024 presidential elections because of his nature.

Asked by Kwaku Sintim-Misa, the host of the KSM show, whether he would accept an offer by Dr Bawumia to become his running mate for the 2024 polls, Ken Agyapong retorted, “No, I wouldn’t do it”.

“To tell you the truth. Why I cannot be a vice president is that I would speak my mind,” he explained.

Ken Agyapong, who is the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, then went ahead to throw a subtle jab at the vice president, saying, “And I am not going to be mate,” as he shook his head.

What Bawumia said:

“I am like a driver’s mate,” Vice President Dr Bawumia reiterated in his first major speech as flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, Dr. Bawumia outlined his vision for Ghana in an address at the UPSA auditorium in Accra.

During the presentation, he stressed that despite being the driver’s mate, “if, by the Grace of God, you make me president, I will be in the driver’s seat with constitutionally mandated authority to pursue my vision and my priorities”.

He added: “My vision is to create a tent big enough to accommodate all our people, to tap into the resourcefulness and talents of our people irrespective of our different ethnic, political and religious backgrounds, to channel our energies into building the kind of country that assures a food self-sufficient, safe, prosperous, and dignified future for all Ghanaians, to create sustainable jobs with meaningful pay for all, and for Ghana to participate fully in the fourth industrial revolution using systems and data.”

This was not the first time he touted his role as a driver’s mate and an assistant to the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Bawumia, in his address, also spoke about several taxes he would abolish when elected president and plans and policies he would roll out while pointing to the successes of the Akufo-Addo government.

Watch Ken Agyapong’s remarks in the video below: