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Kennedy Agyapong
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong (born 16 June 1960) is a Ghanaian politician and businessman who represents Assin Central in parliament as a member of the New Patriotic Party.[2][3] He was first elected as a member of parliament in 2000 to the seat of Assin North.[4] He retained his seat in the year 2004[5] and 2008 parliamentary elections.[6] In 2012, he was elected in the new seat of Assin Central and was re-elected in 2016. He also retained his seat in the 2020 general elections.[7] He is currently the Chairman of the Parliament's Defense and Interior Committee.[1][8][9]Mahamudu Bawumia.[10]He is known for his fiery oratory skills and persona. Early life and educationOhene Agyapong was born on 16 June 1960 to Francis Ohene Kofi Agyapong and Mary Nsiah at Assin Dompim in the Central Region of Ghana.[1][11] He had his secondary education at Adisadel College in the Central Region. Agyapong holds a GCE A-Level and studied at the Fordham University, New York, USA.[12] He is a farmer and businessman, director of Assin Farms, Supercare Group of Companies and Hollywood Shopping Centre. PoliticsKennedy Agyapong is one of the politicians who have never lost any parliamentary election he contested. He was first elected as MP in the year 2000.[13] Kennedy Agyapong was once a chairman of the Communication Committee of Parliament.[14] Agyapong vowed to commit suicide if former President John Mahama's brother, Ibrahim, is not jailed by the Akufo-Addo government for some alleged corrupt activities which, according to Agyapong, have led to the state losing money. One of his claims was that Ibrahim Mahama defaulted in his taxes for over year when his brother was President of the Republic of Ghana. The allegation was investigated and Mahama eventually paid the taxes with accompanying fines. This action earned Agyapong praises from Ghanaians.[15][16] Prior to Election 2016, Agyapong constantly attacked Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei.He alleged in one his attacks that the EC Boss has traded sex for her position. Agyapong was widely condemned.[17] In 2018, undercover Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, released Number 12, an investigative documentary about corruption in Ghana football and it resulted in the arrest and subsequent resignation of Ghana Football Association president, Kwasi Nyantakyi. Agyapong launched labelled the investigative journalist, a rogue and appealed that he be stopped before he begins to investigate people in their bedrooms.[18] He launched a counter campaign against Anas, publicly broadcasting a documentary titled, Who watches the watchman, allegedly showing the corrupt side of the investigator and his boys.[19] and Reporters Without Borders [20] he stated that Anas' methods were 'unfair'. In June 2018, he broadcast images of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, an undercover agent and protégé of Anas on his Net2 TV and called for retribution against the journalist. Weeks later, Hussein-Suale was murdered at his Madina neighbourhood in Ghana's capital.[21][22] In July 2018, after describing Parliament of Ghana as useless, Agyapong was hauled before the Privileges Committee for contempt of Parliament.[23] Before the committee, he denied labeling the legislature as useless, insisting that he was misquoted. Agyapong eventually apologise and the matter was settled.[24] CommitteesIn the eighth Parliament, Agyapong is the chairperson for the Defense and Interior Committee. He is also a member of the Judiciary Committee and also, the Special Budget Committee.[1] Presidential BidIn 2022, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong announced he will not seek re-election to Parliament for a seventh term. Later in May 2022, he announced his intention to contest the presidential primaries of his party, the New Patriotic Party.[25][26] In his quest to represent his party as its flagbearer for the 2024 elections, Agyapong spelt out his for the country. He stated that if he wins the party primaries and the general election, he plans to utilize his initial 100 days as president to transform the mindset of Ghanaians.[27] Agyapong, who was asked if he stands a chance considering he was in the contest against people who had PHDs and were better educated than him, shot down the relevance of education certificates. In fact, he redefined PHD to mean Patriotism, Honesty and Discipline, principles he indicated were valuable and can lead to significant changes in Ghana.[28][26] He also touted the tourism potential of Ghana and said his presidency was going to develop tourism facilities and sites to make the country a go to destination for tourists.[26][29] On the creation of jobs for the youth, Agyapong described the youth unemployment rate as alarming but indicated per his trackrecord of providing jobs to 7,000 people via his business, he was Ghana's saviour.[30] In November 2023, Agyapong's presidential ambition was short-lived as 61.7% of his party's delegates voted Mahamudu Bawumia to lead the party into the general election in December 2024.[31] Aggrieved from losing the primaries, Agyapong vowed not campaign for the party, but in June 2024, he joined Bawumia on a campaign tour of the Ashanti region.[32] Personal lifeHe is a Christian and married with 22 children.[33][1] See alsoReferences
19.ʌ "Kennedy Agyapong admits that he almost died last month Archived 11 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine. legitloaded.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.  Wikiquote has quotations related to Kennedy Agyapong. |
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