2024 Polls: Arthur Kennedy Scores NPP ‘F’ On Corruption, Nepotism & Incompetence

Corruption, nepotism, and incompetence are issues that are going to determine the outcome of the 2024 general elections, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy, has said.

Dr Kennedy said he wants to see how these issues will be tackled by the candidates in their campaign promises because of the danger they pose to the development of Ghana.
The biggest issues of this election should be corruption, nepotism, and incompetence,” he said on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Tuesday, November 7, 2023.

On the performance of the current government in these areas, he scored the administration ‘F’

“It will be an F on all of them but of course, the previous Mahama government was defeated in 2016 because of corruption and some of those things and so it will be a dueling campaign to point out each other’s faults and each other’s weaknesses. I actually will be looking for the positives about who can help us end these things. Because I believe the biggest problems causing Ghana’s underdevelopment is corruption, nepotism and incompetence.”

Dr Arthur Kennedy further mentioned the hurdles in the way of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the 2024 general elections.

First is the quest of Ghanaians to change government every 8 years as has been the case in the fourth republic.

Second is the bad record of the Akufo-Addo administration, he added.

Speaking on the election of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as the flagbearer of the NPP, on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Tuesday, November 7, Dr Arthur Kennedy said “There is always 8 years to change which Ghanaians have demonstrated all through the Fourth Republic, which will be a significant and historical barrier for the NPP to overcome. The second thing obviously is the bad record of the government and the fact that Dr Bawumia is trying to run on the ticket of a government that has been unpopular.

“There are ways to overcome that but that is a problem. The third one is the religious aspect. The other one is the fact that the person on the other ticket is very well known, a former president whose almost-dead career has been resurrected by the bad performance of the NPP government. All these are challenges that the NPP ticket will face in the 2024 elections.”

Dr Arthur Kennedy further indicated that the election of Dr Bawumia is significant because it settled the issue of the party being an Akan party.

“One can say that the election of Afoko against government support was more significant but certainly one can say that the NPP has been able to elect a non-Akan flagbearer and that is a positive thing.

“It will make a lot of significance, it will make an impact but I think that if Afoko‘s election didn’t make an impact we should not exaggerate how much Bawumia’s election will make but it certainly gives you an answer to the narrative that it is an Akan party,” he said on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Tuesday, November 7.

Dr Arthur K is not the only person who has made this remark. General Secretary of the NPP Justin Kodua Frimpong also said the party can no longer be described as an ‘Akan’ party.

He said Dr Bawumia’s victory has wiped that impression.

Addressing party supporters at the Accra Sports stadium where the final results of the NPP elections were announced on Saturday, November 4, he said “Today we have made history…” The NPP can no longer be called the Akan party. Not long ago, someone said the NPP will never elect a northern as its flagbearer.”

Former National Chair of the NPP Peter Mac Manu also made a similar comment after stating that Dr Bawumia’s victory defeats the claim by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the north has been their stronghold.

He told TV3’s Eric Mawuena Egbeta at the Accra Sports Stadium, the venue of the declaration of the final result of the NPP presidential primaries, on Saturday, November 4, “This is the first time NPP is choosing a candidate from the north.”

Asked how significant this is, he answered “It is very significant because NDC has been touting that the north is their stronghold…2024 we will see.”

He further said that the internal democracy of the NPP ensures that whoever is elected as flagbearer is supported by the entire rank and file of the party.

He stated that campaigns normally bring about divisions because two or more people compete for one position. But when the contest is over, they all come together to support the eventual winner.

Mr Mac Manu said, “Campaigning is bound to bring some division because two or more people compete but the internal democracy in NPP is that when we choose one person all of us rally behind that person.”

Source: TV3