Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Kwame Baffoe has allegedly stated that former MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, was the big brain behind the publication of the Agyapadie document.
Abronye indicated that the businessman financially sponsored some National Democratic Congress media outlets to publish the document to tarnish the image of president Akufo-Addo and his vice, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to make him (Kennedy Agyapong) the preferred choice during NPP’s presidential contest in the run up to the 2024 elections.
The Agyapadie document was published in 2016 but it became popular after 2020 where sections of the 38 page book discussed how some high profile individuals from the Akyem tribe wanted to take control of the economy.
The document without a well identified author, featured the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, on the cover, former President Akufo-Addo and his father, Akufo-Addo, on the following page.
The book gives a detailed account of how the supposed group captured in the document as the ‘Akyem mafia’ sought to take total control of the country and dictate its governance.
The book predicted some future occurrences such as the conscious effort to position Okyenhene as the most powerful traditional ruler in the country, changes in leadership at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the sale of some national assets including SSNIT hotels and the collapse of indigenous banks.
Also, the book talks about how religious leaders who were opposers of the government at the time were going to face stiffer punishments while those who supported government policies would be allowed to have breathing space to flourish.
The release of the book coincided with the election of President Akufo-Addo in 2016. Ghanaians massively voted against President Mahama during the elections and so the release of Agyapadie was seen as a propaganda tool to witewash the newly elected administration.
However, a lot of people saw that the message in the book correlates with the happenings in the country after the first term of Akufo-Addo’s government.
The Okyenhene who strongly rejected the content of the book which claims that the president at the time made efforts to project his Kingdom as the most powerful one in the country admonished his kinsmen to disregard the book.
He additionally asserted at a Council of State meeting that the unidentified authors of the book intended to make him unpopular but their plans will fail.
But, a leading member of the NPP, Arthur Kennedy, on July 26,2024 was reported to have sided with the content of the book.
He sighted individualism and greediness as key factors hurting the party with appointees amassing wealth for personal benefits.
