The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Presidential Elections Committee, Joseph Osei Owusu, has responded to claims by Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson for presidential hopeful Kennedy Agyapong, regarding the party’s peace pact. Kwarteng had alleged that aspirants were not provided with copies of the document before signing.
The peace pact—signed by all five aspirants ahead of the January 31 presidential primaries—binds contenders to party unity, acceptance of the electoral process and its outcomes, and a commitment to restrain supporters from actions that could threaten peace within the party.
Concerns surfaced during the signing ceremony when Mr. Agyapong questioned aspects of the document.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV’s Face to Face, Mr. Osei Owusu dismissed the claims, insisting that the Elections Committee had circulated the peace pact well in advance.
“We sent a copy to each of the contestants ahead of time—three days before the signing. Some received it personally, others through their agents. I have heard that interview, and I’m so disappointed. Let me be blunt: lawyers should speak to facts and reality. I don’t think he [Kwarteng] spoke to Hon. Kennedy Agyapong or Rockie before he granted the interview,” he said.
Mr. Osei Owusu clarified that the issues raised by Mr. Agyapong were not about the content of the peace pact, but rather about past concerns regarding electoral results—matters that had already been discussed with the Electoral Commission (EC).
“The issue Kennedy Agyapong raised was that we ask him to accept the results, but during the 2023 election, in one constituency, he got three votes, but they recorded zero. So what if that happens? Rockie raised the issue at a meeting with the EC, and we committed that if anything occurs that affects the integrity of the results and we have evidence, we will cancel it. That had nothing to do with the text of the pact, or whether he had seen it,” he explained.
He stressed that any failure by Mr. Agyapong to review the document before the ceremony could not be blamed on the committee.
“[If he didn’t see it], that will not be our fault; we gave two copies to his team, Rockie and Charles Bissue, so it’s not correct for anybody to say he was seeing it for the first time,” he said.
