‘Now I have become a Mugabe’ – Ken Agyapong on how he became an MP

Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong has explained how he started thinking about and the circumstances that led to his acceptance to become a lawmaker.

According to him, it started with people thronging his house for assistance after he returned from the United States years ago and ended after research conducted in the area confirmed that he was the best candidate for the New Patriotic Party.

Addressing students at the University of Professional Studies-Accra, UPSA, during a public lecture, Agyapong intimated that from entering Parliament till date he has become a ‘Mugabe’ – reference to an ‘unchallenged’ candidate.

“When I came back from America, a lot of people were coming to my house for favours and I said, eish, how am I going to help everybody here?

“Unless I represent them. It took me a long time to take that decision but it was Hon Kwamena Bartels and Theresa Tagoe who came to my Constituency to do research and they realized I was the one who can win for them, so they pleaded with me to contest.

“And now, I have become Mugabe,” he said in response to a question about how he entered politics.

Kennedy Agyapong entered Parliament in 2000 as MP for Assin North, he has since won reelection, doing so by over 57% in 2020. After the Constituency was split at a point, he represented the people of carved out Assin Central with the Assin North currently being held by the opposition NDC’s James Gyakye Quayson.

Agyapong announces he will leave Parliament in 2025

In August 2020, Agyapong announced that he will be quitting Parliament after 24 years representing the constituency located in the Central Region.

His main reason for quitting he said was partly out of disappointment and also from the will to allow another person to try achieving as much as he did during his tenure.

“I’m doing a lot for my people but a whopping 42 per cent of the electorates in the 2020 polls think I’m not doing well, so I’m leaving but would wait patiently to see if any MP can do what I did,” he told delegates at a gathering of the New Patriotic Party’s annual Delegates Conference in Assin-Fosu.

To buttress the seriousness of his decision, he added: “Even if I’m given 1,000 cows, I will not go back because I want the people to know that I am fighting for their wellbeing and not myself as an MP.”

He, however, encouraged the party faithful who had gathered at Assin-Fosu to give full backing to the government in order to break the eight-year rule where an incumbent party loses power.

“I entreat you to stand firm and defend the government as measures are being put in place to improve the economy to bring relief to ordinary Ghanaians,” he stated.