FEATURE: Arthur Kennedy, By His Articles We Shall Know Him

Arthur Kennedy is trying to convince Ghanaians that he would be a better president than any other aspiring individual because he is youthful, untainted by corruption, and upfront when it comes to Ghanaian politics. Thus he is most interested in the affairs of Ghana, meaning he would be honest and attack wrong doings in the country irrespective of the political party in question

On February 13, 2007, Arthur Kennedy an aspiring presidential candidate of the NPP wrote an article titled Respecting National Institutions, published by Ghanaweb. In that article, he admonished NDC parliamentarians for walking out of parliament in solidarity with one of their colleagues sentenced to prison for causing financial loss/harm to the state. I am surprised that, in his article, Arthur did not mention that the NPP when in opposition also walked out of parliament.

According to Arthur Kennedy, “it would have been commendable if they [NDC parliamentarians] had sought, as parliamentarians to examine the operation of the law with a view to improving it”. What makes Arthur Kennedy think that the operation is wrong? He went on to write that “the NDC poured salt into the wound, by threatening to jail NPP members under the same law if they win the 2008 elections”. For Arthur Kennedy it is abominable for NDC to say that. That is ridiculous because all that the NDC members are saying is that they will use the same yardstick to judge NPP members. Why he finds a problem with that is mysterious to me.

Condemning the NDC members as being selective in their protests, Arthur Kennedy wondered why they did not protest or cry foul when Mallam Issah (NPP member) was jailed under the watch of the NPP government. To say the least, that is a banal comparison. For those of you who don’t know of Mallam’s case: he is the guy who was supposed to deliver some thousands of dollars to the Black Star players in Sudan as their stipend but kept the money and said it had been stolen en route to Sudan. Who will sympathize with such an open crook? Arthur Kennedy failed to mention that President Kuffour was quick in pardoning Mallam Issah. For Arthur Kennedy, the judiciary is not tainted with politics. If that is the case, how come NPP crooks like Anane, Aidoo, Tarzan and the likes have never been charged for causing financial loss to the state?

Arthur Kennedy went on to write that “the behaviour of the NDC has clearly demonstrated that they do not believe in the independence of the judiciary”. Interesting, very interesting because it means the NPP believes in the independence of the judiciary. If it did, why did the government pack the Supreme Court with certain judges when the NPP came to power? Today, the Supreme Court of Ghana comprises of eighteen (18) judges. Even America’s Supreme Court comprises of only nine (9) judges.

The clean-hands Arthur Kennedy is silent over the handing over of the seized property of cocaine convict Adu Bonsu (Benjilo) back to him. The property was handed back to Benjilo and his family because the government prosecutor intentionally and consistently failed to appear in court. The Court said the state did not open its defence, and went on to ask the state to pay interest of 1.1 billion (yes, billion) cedis being the cost of goods in his shops when he was convicted of drug trafficking. In addition, the Court awarded 50 million cedis cost against the state and 80 million cedis damages for unlawful seizure of the property. This is a lot of money going to the drains because the state refused to appear in Court. Many are wondering who ordered the Attorney General’s office not to appear in court! And is this not causing financial loss to the state?

Arthur Kennedy, selective criticism on the basis of political affiliation puts you in the same category as the old crooks who dominate Ghanaian politics. The Messiah is not yet born, you and I may have to wait for him or her

Desmond Darko, Accra

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.