Arthur Kennedy Should Address NPP's Defeat Candidly or Shut Up

It’s usually easy for people to find someone else to blame when a group, team, or in this case, a political party loses a contest. There is nothing wrong with looking into the causes of our failures. It is wrong, though, if we just do so in an attempt to shift blame from ourselves to someone else. In the last few weeks, different people have offered different reasons to explain why the NPP lost the 2008 election. While I disagree with many of the reasons that have been given so far for lack of proper analysis and candor, I particularly disagree with Dr. Arthur Kennedy for his take on the presidential complex project.

It’s not my intention at this time to comment on why we lost the election. 1) I don’t think this is the proper forum for that discussion, and 2) such discussion needs a lot of facts and detail analysis of all pertinent factors. My advice, however, to the Kennedy type who think that the time is right and want to voice their opinion on why we lost the election is, you better get your facts straight and put things in their proper perspective. President Kufour may have contributed to the loss but whatever part he played was just a small fraction of the whole. The arrogance of NPP ministers and MPs, the party executives and their handling of the primaries, the corruption, the complacency, and above all, the conduct of the campaign itself of which Arthur Kennedy was a key player; all contributed to our defeat.

The problem with many African countries is not poverty, rather, our problem is our inability to tackle any big problem – our leaders lack of political will to take bold decisions and actions. The fact of life is that, a certain level of poverty will continue to be with mankind regardless of what governments do or don’t do. The fact that countries like America, Canada and many others still have poor people living on their streets proves my point.

Having a presidential complex in Ghana is long overdue. Many countries less privileged than Ghana have them too. If for nothing at all, the cost, risk, and inconveniences associated with the transportation of the president on a daily basis from his residence to the Castle should justify the project. For Arthur Kennedy to suggest that the presidential complex should not have been built until the people in Bripro and Buprungu have access to a clinic or good drinking water is unfortunate. To make this cheap political argument is to somehow argue that the president of the Unites States of America should not live in the White House with over 130 rooms until every homeless American has a place to live in; or to somehow argue that, maybe, the parliament building in Accra should not have been built until every village in Ghana has a well equipped school. After all, the parliament can conduct its business under a tree with some tables. The point is that, some things which serve certain purposes for the nation, directly or indirectly, must be done without focusing too much on the cost and what else or where else we could have spent the money.

The Tema motorway has arguably been the best stretch roadway in Ghana for many decades. But at the time of its contruction there were Ghanaians who had no access to good drinking water. Isn’t good drinking water more important than a good highway? It’s true that people need to have access to good drinking water but sometimes we argue as if the only business of the government is to provide good drinking water. With good governance we can address many problems (big or small) at the same time. President Nkrumah could have abondened the Akosombo dam, the Tema motorway, and many other projects and yet the people of Bripro and Buprungu will still be without good drinking water.

Ghana as a nation is capable of building twice the size of the Jubilee House and still provide our people with good drinking water if only our politicians are willing to take serious steps to address mismanagement and corruption which has been institutionalized in government. If Arthur Kennedy is seriously looking for reasons to explain why we lost the election, then, among many things, I challenge him to look into the campaign itself. He should look back and question why the need for such a large entourage that accompanied Nana wherever he went during the campaign. If that was not a waste of resources, then the presidential complex can hardly be. Let us stop these cheap shots that we throw at each other and come together as party members and be candid about the real issues which caused us the election and find a way back in 2012.

A. Opoku-Agyemang