The man, Dr Kobena Arthur Kennedy for years now has been and still is a conundrum for the party he claims to be a leading member and lover of. Since Nana Addo’s defeat in the 2008 Presidential elections, this man has not for once failed to seize the opportunity to paint NPP black in the eyes of the Ghanaian electorate. He cunningly writes articles that he portrays himself as though he loves and cares for the fortunes of the NPP. He’s never for once come to the defense of the flagbearer of the party either from within or outside the party. However, he jumps to attack the flagbearer whenever anything untoward is happening in the party even if the facts prove on the contrary that most of these happenings occur on the blind side of the flagbearer or without his approval.
I won’t be surprised that the next interview or article Arthur Kennedy will grant or write will be to accuse Nana Addo of being behind people like me eventhough I’m yet to get the privilege of shaking hands with Nana Addo or spending 15 seconds with him. All the questions about the true intentions of Arthur Kennedy were answered today when I read that Arthur Kennedy said “I find it very difficult to see how somebody can trust Blay, who came in from CPP with a long retinue of mistrust and Bawumia who is a recent NDC convert, and yet, we cannot trust Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong, who have given all their lives to this party”. I find this statement very unfortunate. This is because eventhough we all know that Hon. Freddy Blay joined from CPP, same cannot be said of Dr. Bawumia: that he joined NPP from NDC or any other political party.
Dr Bawumia might have at the time of his nomination as running mate in 2008 been without an NPP membership card but that did not make him NDC. People like Arthur Kennedy claim to be dye in the wool democrats but still do not believe that an individual can hold political persuasions that are divergent from his or her family. Already, some people hold the believe that people like Arthur Kennedy are bitter about the fact that Nana Addo nominated Dr Bawumia as running mate because they believe such a young, intelligent, affable and charismatic man will scuttle their own presidential ambitions.
I have these suggestions for Dr Kobena Arthur Kennedy;
1. Your admonition about the mistrust people have about some national executives is right on point. However, in doing so, you gave out some of the reasons why you have consistently denigrated and attacked our flagbearer as if he is the worst thing to have happened to you. You despise Dr Bawumia, Freddy Blay et al. It is people like you who keep brewing tension in the party and turn around to blame the flagbearer. This week has been a very calm one for the NPP and the issues seemed to have died but you reignited the flames with your comments.
2. Since you are willing to defend Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong till death, why can’t you equally defend the flagbearer; maybe till you are on your sick bed since both Afoko and Agyepong are also by convention rather supposed to defend their flagbearer till death. The standard bearer of the party you ‘love’ so much is Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo and not Afoko or Agyepong. So if you genuinely love this party and wishes to see the NPP recapture power, then you must be prepared to defend the flagbearer and rather not attack him and subject him to all sorts of ridicule and questions.
3. You recently averred that it was wrong to accuse some national officers of murder without any proof and I agreed with you. However, it cannot also be right for you to keep on accusing Nana Addo of fomenting troubles in the party without any proof. You seem to be biased in trying to call for order in NPP. Everything emanating from the Afoko/Kwabena camp is right by your estimation whilst every other thing from Nana Addo’s camp where we should all belong at least till after 2016, is wrong.
4. Doc, I want to find out if you seek clearance from Afoko and Agyepong whenever you want to comment on NPP issues? I guess you don’t. Yes, that is how it is everywhere. People that are allies of Nana Addo also have the individual opinions and liberties and they don’t always sync them with Nana Addo before airing them or acting upon them. So I am pleading with you not to jump to conclusions and make sweeping statements without substantiating them all in your bid to run down Nana Addo.
5. In your opinion, Nana Addo’s running mate, Dr Bawumia is an NDC convert. Please forgive Nana Addo for overlooking you eventhough Dr Bawumia has vindicated Nana Addo on that bold decision. However, at the speed with which you are gaining favour in the NDC, I won’t be surprised if President Mahama makes a bold decision like Nana Addo did to nominate you as his running mate for the 2016 elections. Keep your fingers crossed; all hope is not lost yet.
6. Dr Arthur Kay as you are affectionately called, will you in your next article or radio interview acknowledge and applaud the flagbearer for implementing some of your ‘suggestions’ by bringing on board people like Hon. Alan Kyeremanten, Dr Apraku, Hon. Joe Ghartey etc. Even Okatakyie Opoku Agyemang of GAKE fame has joined the team of Nana and is working seriously and feverishly to make sure that Nana Addo and the NPP win the next elections. To me, they are the true democrats and patriots who deserve to be called leading members. So it is not all that bad as you always try to put it. A lot is being done just that the bitterness in you has prevented you from seeing the positives of your own party or the steps your party’s leadership is taking to build a formidable front ahead of the elections. I won’t try to link your unfortunate utterances and articles to either Afoko or Agyepong because unlike you, they are men who actually deserve our trust and wish Nana Addo well eventhough we the followers of the party may for one reason or the other have problems with them on grounds of approach and methodology and not intentions. My problem, our problem with you is regarding your true intentions. We are quite sure that you want Nana Addo to lose and you’ll capitalize on it to write the part two and possibly three of ‘Chasing the Elephant into the Bush’.
7. My senior patriot, if you love Ghana and actually believe in the legacies of President Kufour and his erstwhile government, you’ll know that it is when Nana Addo is in power that Ghanaians will get the relief we are so much crying for. It is Nana Addo and the NPP that will build upon the great legacies of the gentle giant- President Kufuor. It is when NPP is in power that the attribute of a leading member of NPP will be meaningful. Therefore, I beseech you to rather instead of going public with your reservations, privately call or email your concerns to the flagbearer or whoever you have issues with. That won’t change your title from Dr Arthur Kennedy to Mr Arthur Kennedy. You might not know but NDC’S current message against NPP is what Arthur Kennedy writes. A leading member like you won’t be happy about this.
8. Please treat my article as my opinion and not that of Nana Addo. Just as you aren’t Afoko’s or Agyepong’s bootlicker, I’m certainly not also Nana’s but I believe in his vision and that of NPP and will support him till death because he’s our leader. I’m assuring you that whatever your true intentions are, we’ll be prepared to accept you wholeheartedly back in our hearts whenever you decide to also join the fold. For now, most of us consider you as a traitor eventhough we may be wrong. We certainly want to be wrong and not right in this case. The ball is in your court Doc.
GOD BLESS NANA ADDO, GOD BLESS NPP AND GOD BLESS GHANA.
Author: Simon Suayam
Mobile: 0207854685