Put on earth to make a difference

Family Health Center Inc. CEO Dr. Arthur Kennedy is leaving his position to head back to his home country of Ghana to run for president. Exiled twice from Ghana, he thinks he now has a chance to make a difference.

Dr. Arthur Kennedy is a bright, ambitious professional whose talents as a physician and social activist could very well make him the next president of the West African nation of Ghana.

A native of the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence, Kennedy has lived in Orangeburg since 1998. He is now looking forward to moving back to his beloved country to make a difference not only as a physician, but as president.

Kennedy seeks to become the country's next president in 2008 and has already waged an international campaign to help him achieve his goal.

He has lived in Orangeburg since 1998, when he joined the Family Health Center Inc. He served as vice president for clinical services for a year at the state's largest community health center before becoming the facility's interim chief executive officer. Kennedy has served as CEO since 2002, but is now ready to move back to Ghana to have more of a presence among the constituents he's trying to reach.

"It is important that I get there for more people to see me and hear my message. I've done quite well living here and still doing that, going up there for visits, but it's time to be there full time.

"The (FHC) board is going to have a meeting to discuss what kind of arrangement they will have for running the center and to discuss modalities for hiring a new CEO," Kennedy said.

'Africa is in trouble'

Kennedy has already resigned from his job as FHC's CEO, and his last official day on the job is March 1. In the meantime, he is working on his political campaign and sharpening his agenda for change.

Kennedy is no stranger to Ghanian politics, having been exiled twice as a United Nations refugee for activities including his participation in student-led demonstrations against a militaristic regime.

He has since become a strong, viable presidential candidate who is looking forward to making a difference in a country plagued by high infant mortality and slow trade growth rates.

"I and quite a number of people I know have been increasingly concerned about the problem of Africa in general, and Ghana in particular," Kennedy said.

"When you look at Africa, 250,000 women die from childbirth complications every year currently. About a million children under five die every year from malaria. When you look at things like trade, Africa accounted for six percent of the world's trade in 1980. By 2000, it accounted for two percent of the world's trade," he said.

Kennedy said the United Nations' goals to rectify the extreme poverty-stricken conditions of Africans by 2015, including the provision of clean drinking water, access to health care and reductions in infant and maternal mortality, have not become a reality.

"According to the latest report by the U.N. itself, no sub-Saharan African country will meet those goals until the end of this century, which is about 94 years out. Africa is in trouble in spite of all the things that you hear," said Kennedy, who was born in Ghana's Volta region.

Kennedy began his education at the University of Ghana Medical School in Ghana, West Africa in 1980. He stepped into the Ghanian political scene as a young student leader in the 1980s, when he was president of Commonwealth Hall at the university and eventually became president of the National Union of Students.

"I was the first medical student in the country ever to hold those positions. There happened to be a military government in power, so I was one of the leaders who led protests to return the country to elective government. As a result of those protests, my education was interrupted," said Kennedy, who became a wanted man in connection with a coup and, subsequently, became a U.N. refugee for a year in Africa before returning to resume his studies.

"I was arrested and detained and ended up having to report every day to the police for maybe about six or seven months," said Kennedy, who was exiled again in 1987, when he spoke against the military regime as keynote speaker during the National Union of Student's 25th anniversary celebration.

"They declared me wanted again, and I had to leave. This time around, I lived in Africa for 18 months and then relocated to Canada. After I finally left in 1987, I didn't go back for about 15 years," he said, adding that he kept in touch with people with whom he was politically involved when he arrived in North America.

"I remember in 1996, when the guy who is currently president, Mr. (John) Kufuor, was in Chicago for a fund-raiser. I was the person who chaired the fund-raiser for him in 1996. I was honored by the party in North America for my outstanding contribution to the party, so I know a lot of people. I've known them for some time," Kennedy said.

'Keys to turning

Africa around'

Kennedy is running on the National Patriot Party ticket. He said the presidential primary is slated for later this year, perhaps as late as December, with the general election set for November 2008. He has a campaign coordinator in Ghana, with 50 campaign members having met in December to strategize how to best reach Ghana's 10 regions and 230 constituencies.

"I have met party executives in about six of the 10 regions. I have a team in Ghana, and I have a team abroad. I have had people calling in from Britain, Australia and Canada," said Kennedy, who has a campaign Web site at www.arthurkkennedy.com and has already written several articles for Ghanian newspapers.

He said the "keys to turning Africa around" involve dealing with "the three evils" of corruption, ethnocentrism and excessive partisanship. He said British Prime Minister Tony Blair set up a 17-member Africa Commission in 2005, with Blair in the introduction of the commission's report describing Africa as "the scar on the conscience of the world."

He said there must be a "reverse migration" of Africans back to the continent so that their talents, skills and resources can be pooled to bolster the continent's reconstruction. He said North America has the "largest concentration of black professionals in the world" in doctors, lawyers, engineers and teachers and that there are "a lot of interlocking opportunities ... to send the know-how and the example of professionalism that people here have that I believe would help out."

"For example, if you are a teacher here, you can actually teach a class in Africa living here because of teleconferencing technology. If you are a tenured professor, you can take a year off and go and teach and come back," Kennedy said.

Outside of fighting corruption, creating jobs and attracting Ghanians back to the country, he said his two other goals include fixing the country's health care system with an emphasis on preventive health and health promotion and applying technology for the country's development.

"I'm not talking about cutting-edge technology; I'm talking about appropriate technology. Sometimes we don't move from horses and cattle ... to combine harvesters. Maybe there are intermediate technologies that will make people about 10 times more efficient. They may not make our living standards the same as here, but will make it a lot better," Kennedy said.

'Focus on the

next generation'

Kennedy, who has two young sons, Kwamina, 6, and Kofi, 5, with his wife, Evelyn, said he is moving back to Ghana to fulfill what he considers a mission to serve the poor and underprivileged.

"I think we must make a difference in the world. We are too consumed by our own interests and our own wealth, and I think that we were put on Earth by God to make a difference. Most people think that I have put on the table more ideas than any other candidate.

"A lot of what I'm doing is more of setting up Web sites and other things, so I will continue to champion the issues of the poor and underprivileged. I hope that their concerns will dominate the councils of our government. We need to focus on the next generation rather than the next election, and I think there is too much of that going on," Kennedy said.

Kennedy received his bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of Toronto, Canada, and his medical degree in 1991 from Spartan Health Sciences University in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia.

He completed his family practice residency through the Medical College of Wisconsin.

He is a licensed physician in South Carolina and Wisconsin and a diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians.