I miss June 4th - Arthur Kennedy cries out

“…We need a moral revolution. Frankly, I never thought I would say this but I miss June 4th, even with all of its mistakes...because the intent was good and what we are seeing tells us why people supported June 4th even though the execution was poor". – Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy.

Those were the sentiments expressed by Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy, a leading member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) during a discussion of an article he authored on ‘Me man Nti', a current affairs talk show on NEAT 100.9 FM.

To the out-spoken NPP stalwart, the Mahama administration has abandoned governance whiles the opposition seems more interested in fighting itself than fighting for power. This, therefore, is an indication that Ghana is a broken country.

On the numerous economic challenges facing the nation, Dr. Arthur Kennedy was of the view that “government does not know what to do. It is lost, people are just looking for money for themselves and their families".

He went on further to tell the host Adakabre Frimpong Manso that, at this time Ghana need incorruptible and selfless leaders who would work to raise the standard of living of the citizenry.

“…we need leaders who can control themselves and stop battling for money and do the people’s work, but we don’t have that,” he added.

The soft-spoken medical doctor and politician also took a swipe at Parliament for what he deems as neglect of the core functions at the expense of the taxpayer.

“…we are just wasting money on Parliament. If it is a Constitutional Reform, we need a committee which we pay allowances to. If it is investigating Judgment Debt, we form a committee we pay allowances to. So what are the duties of Parliament”? he quizzed.

He is of the conviction that recent occurrences are similar to what led to the June 4th, 1979 bloody coup, where young military officers led by former President Jerry John Rawlings, then a Flight Lieutenant with the Ghana Air force, overthrew the Military junta, Supreme Military Council.

The regime started a 'House cleaning' exercise against corruption. Three former military leaders of Ghana, Lt. Gen. Afrifa, Gen. Acheampong and Lt. Gen. Akuffo were all executed together with five other senior officers deemed to have been corrupt by the special courts setup by the government. Numerous business entrepreneurs were also targeted and unlawfully had their assets confiscated.

Nonetheless, Dr. Arthur Kennedy misses that situation but also suggested four key areas to tackle, if the country’s economic woes are to be surmounted.

“…so the first thing is to stop useless government spending. The second is to start eating what we grow and growing what we eat. The third is to stop the nefarious corruption that adds to the price of everything and the next is to create jobs so our graduates can get work to do”.