Kennedy Agyapong raised peace pact concerns over missing clause – Spokesperson explains

Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson for New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful Kennedy Agyapong, has clarified why his candidate raised concerns during the signing of the party’s peace pact ahead of the January 31 presidential primaries.

The peace pact, endorsed by all five aspirants, commits the candidates to party unity, respect for the electoral process and its outcome, and ensuring that their supporters act in ways that promote peace within the party.

However, Mr Agyapong was seen engaging party officials during the ceremony, sparking speculation about objections to the agreement.

Speaking on The Cituation Room on Channel One TV, Mr Kwarteng explained that the concerns stemmed from the omission of a critical clause that had earlier been agreed upon by all aspirants.

According to him, the missing provision stated that voting centres would also serve as collation centres, with results declared at those same locations. He further noted that aspirants were supposed to receive copies of the peace pact ahead of the ceremony to review its contents, but this did not happen.

“Initially, the expectation was that the organisers would have served the parties with the documents of the peace pact so that they would have read earlier and known the details before the ceremony. Unfortunately, we did not get the documents as earlier agreed. So Ken had the first-hand opportunity to go through the document at the venue,” Mr Kwarteng explained.

He said prior meetings involving the aspirants, the Presidential Elections Committee and the Electoral Commission had reached a clear consensus that voting centres would double as collation centres, and that results would be declared there.

Mr Kwarteng added that it was also agreed that any voting centre where security was compromised would not be counted, an understanding he said should have been captured in the final document.

“Before that, the parties had earlier agreed with the Presidential Elections Committee and the Electoral Commission that the voting centres would also be used as the collation centres, and the declarations would be made there. In the event that security is compromised, those centres may not be counted,” he stated.

He revealed that after Mr Agyapong raised the issue, the Chairman of the Presidential Elections Committee, Joseph Osei Owusu, acknowledged that the omission was an error and gave assurances that it would be corrected.

“When he raised the concern, the chairman admitted it was an omission and gave a verbal assurance that it would subsequently be inserted,” Mr Kwarteng said.

The clarification appears to put to rest speculation about divisions at the peace pact signing, reinforcing that Mr Agyapong’s concerns were procedural rather than a rejection of the pact itself.