-Kakra Essamuah
Posted: The Chronicle | Thu, 03 Sep 2009
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Former Youth Activist of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and now a sympathiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Kakra Essamuah says Ghanaians must appreciate the prudent economic measures that President Mills and his government are putting in place to bring the economy back on track.
He has therefore asked all Ghanaians to give him ample time to fulfil the promises he made to Ghanaians, since according to him, it was too early for anyone to make a fair assessment of the regime.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Essamuah said the Mills administration must be given time to put the economy back on track, saying “it is too early to expect too many things from the government now.”
For him, some of these criticisms are unnecessary because they are not premised on empirical evidence, but mere speculations and hallucinations.
According to him, the impression was created that the economy was in good shape at the time the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was leaving power, when they rather left the economy in a bad shape.
For this reason, Mr. Essamuah noted that fixing the economy would take time and, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to rally behind the President and his government, since according to him, “patriotism dictates that we give Professor Mills a little more time to prove himself.”
Mr. Essamuah, who was expelled from the NPP for declaring an open support for then Candidate Mills, prior to the 2000 general elections, was however optimistic that President Mills and his government would be able to deliver, since they cannot afford to disappoint the hopes and aspirations of Ghanaians.
“I know he will”, he said, asking The former NPP kin pin assured all Ghanaians and Mills' critics to give him and his government between 18months to 2years to deliver.
When he appeared on Radio Gold's '60 minutes' programme somewhere last week, Mr. Essamuah noted that Professor Mills has been the most suitable man for the position of President of Ghana. He argued that the man is a thorough-bred politician who was a Vice President before becoming President, thereby preparing him well for the job.
Asked what made him declare an open support for Professor Mills' candidature prior to the 2000 general elections, Mr. Essamuah said “the very things that Ghanaians saw in him and voted for him in 2008, I saw those things as far back as 2000.”
He denied being influenced by tribal considerations to support the then Candidate Mills, stressing that it was not part of his intention.
Mr. Kakra Essamuah further noted that he is motivated by the love for his neighbours to make some of the decisions he makes in life, stressing that he concerned about those who think about others and not themselves.
Asked what he makes of Mr. Kufuor and the previous NPP administration, Mr. Esaamuah described Mr. Kufuor as an interesting person, and with a very nice and amiable character.
According to him, whilst former President Rawlings' grip on the NDC weakened considerably after he had left power, Kufuor's grip of the NPP started weakening when he was in power.
This, he said was evident in the fact that all the people Mr. Kufuor supported for various positions in the party lost, with the latest being his opposition to the expansion of the NPPs electoral college which suffered a major setback. “Within his own party, I don't know how they view him”, he said.
That notwithstanding, he said Mr. Kufuor has been a successful politician since he achieved the ultimate goal of becoming President. He also denied being a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) or any other political party, but was certain that he would soon join the NDC.
According to him, he stopped being a member of the NPP since October 2000, a decision that he said was made for him by the party.