A presidential aspirant of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kennedy Agyapong says his recent “showdown” comments made during the party’s super delegates conference ‘’means I am going to prove to you that I will beat you during the elections’’ and not the other way around as it was misunderstood by others.
Mr. Agyapong’s ‘’showdown’’ comments were met with mixed reactions, whereby some people have accused him of being disrespectful to the party’s leadership and that his action was unpresidential, while others have defended his right to free speech.
The NPP firebrand was accused of threatening President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in a viral video during the party’s special delegates conference which the party Disciplinary Committee subsequently invited him to explain his utterances.
However, speaking for the first time on the matter, he said his “showdown” comment was misunderstood.
He explained that “Showdown simply means I am going to prove to you that I will beat you during the elections,” he said, adding “I mean, it is only the NPP that will call you to the disciplinary committee when you say showdown’’.
“Will the vice president also be invited to face the disciplinary committee when he jokingly said he will give [John Dramani] Mahama a showdown?”
His campaign manager, Kwame Owusu, also explained that the term “showdown” was used to convey Agyapong’s strong determination to emerge victorious in the November 4 polls.
He added that whether or not the confrontation was directed toward the Vice President, are you concerned about the meaning of confrontation? Because I think the showdown is basically a decisive point of either a confrontation or a contest. In that regard, if it is addressed to the Vice president it only then meant that come November no matter what happens he is going to be a victor.”
“And so that is a showdown, a decisive confrontation, and contest… It is not a threat, it is nothing for us to be worried about, it is just a simple language probably expressed in a different form,” he stated.
He also reassured that Agyapong is willing to fully cooperate with the party’s disciplinary process.
In relation to that, his outfit is organizing a mega health walk dubbed ‘’Showdown Walk’’ which is expected to take place tomorrow starting from Ayimensah Toll Booth to the Premises of Oman Fm in Madina where he will be addressing the participants.
-BY Daniel Bampoe