Regent of Katamanso, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, has denied support for any particular political party or candidate in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections slated for December 2020.
“I’m there for everybody; I don’t have a favourite, I don’t have an enemy and I don’t have a brother for being in this position”, was how he put it Thursday evening.
This was when Vice President Bawumia called on Afotey Agbo who happens to be the Member of Parliament for the Kpone-Katamanso constituency and now the Regent of the area following the death of his father, the late Chief.
Dr Bawumia was at the Katamanso palace to inform the chiefs and elders about his campaign activities and also introduce the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate in the area, Hopeson Yaovi Adorye to them.
In a brief reward however, Lion as Afotey Agbo who is the incumbent is affectionately called said “you all know I’m the Member of Parliament and at the same time the Regent. I’m trying to stay the course of my position as regent. If not for that, I would have been sitting in a pickup going round campaigning.”
But since the campaign begun and even though a strong NDC, he indicated that “I’ve not set foot anywhere” and that he has been observing events from afar.
He stressed the need for all Ghanaians to live in peace and not allow politics which is a game to divide them or make them enemies.
That, he said was because “it is the right of every Ghanaian to belong a political party of his or her choice” and therefore “we must see each other as brothers and sisters; and if you can do that as an individual, you will enjoy life and you will enjoy the leadership of everybody.”
He talked of the cordial relations that exist between him and some key and influential members of the NPP even though he is a known NDC, including the Greater Accra regional Chairman of party, Divine Agorhum who he said was his class mate at Teshie Salem.
He also considered the party’s Parliamentary candidate, Hopeson Adorye his son and the Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, a very good friend.
“If something is going wrong and you need to advise, you advise; you dont need to be insulting people and be telling people things that you are not supposed to say. As I speak to you, NDC is not in government but I’m still okay; nobody is harassing me, nobody is chasing me up. The police, when I see them, they give me respect…when I was in office, I gave them the needed respect and I worked with them as my own”, he noted.
Interestingly, Afotey Agbo who prides himself as having been Member of Parliament for Kpone-Kantamanso for the past 16years and having the support of almost everybody was literally begging the Vice President to help finish an uncompleted Teacher Training College and a Secondary school project which they started.
He however considered the courtesy call on him by the Vice President a privilege, saying “he is our Vice President, I must give him that respect; so I had to cancel all my programmes to come and sit and wait for him; he is not my enemy, I wish him good luck in his endeavour in the campaign and everything.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent