… To pursue national cohesion
Posted: The Chronicle Friday, April 03, 2009
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
A leading member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy has set the tone for a serious national debate, which could possibly linger on for the next couple of weeks as he tries to find a solution to the seeming victimisation of former leaders in the country.
Dr. Arthur Kennedy said he found it difficult to understand why Nelson Mandela could for instance walk out of prison after 27 years and still bear the then Apartheid regime no grudge. He therefore couldn’t understand why Ghanaian governments would not cherish the good deeds of their predecessors? 
In looking for a lasting solution to the culture of victimisation that has often characterised Ghanaian politics in an extensive interview with The Chronicle, he said he could not fathom why Ghanaians should allow such a political canker to creep into their politics.
He also expressed his worry on why Ghanaians neglect and despise their former Presidents, citing the examples of Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister Busia and President Limann.
Despite the country enjoying democratic dispensation, he noted that Ghanaians still seem to be struggling with carving the proper roles for their former Presidents. To him, not only have we continued to demonise and disgrace the country’s former Presidents, we have also by our treatment of the ex Presidents been washing our dirty linen in public before the whole world.
“When we make it a habit of calling our leaders crooks, sooner or later the world will conclude that we elect rogues to the highest office of the land”, he emphasized, and asked rhetorically “are our leaders more interested in the pursuit of personal vendettas than in developing the nation’s business?”
In finding a solution to the problem, Dr. Kennedy stressed the urgent need for the government to extend basic respects and courtesies to their predecessors as a mark of their own decency, whilst embracing a spirit of conciliation amongst the major political parties.
He chastised those he described as ‘extremists’ in the major political parties and urged the “moderates to raise their voices for the betterment of our country.”
He posed a rhetorical question about why “our national leaders cannot resolve petty issues on the quiet, like how many vehicles a former President is entitled to or where his office should be, or the issues of Dagbon?”, stressing that “we have spent the first three months of the Mills, Presidency exacting revenge for real or imagined actions, while finding little time to engage ourselves across the broad political divide on the big issues of the day.”
Furthermore, the affable NPP kingpin, who has a penchant for speaking his mind freely without any form of fear or favour questioned why as a nation we dissipate our energies on trivial issues.
Dr. Kennedy advised the religious and traditional leaders in the country to publicly comment about state matters that go wrong.
In effect, he lauded the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his well known diplomatic efforts concerning his visits to President Mills and his two predecessors, and urged other religious and traditional rulers to join the effort.
The former NUGS President also had cause to caution the media against their gladiatorial tendencies which is geared towards destruction of characters.
He also stressed the urgent need to condemn the increasing ethnic awareness into the country’s politic which can damage our national cohesion.
His word of advice to the former Presidents was that they must also refrain from public criticism of their successors. Furthermore, they must remember that Ghana is a poor nation and that some of these things could offend the sensibilities of the majority of the poor people in the country.
Dr. Kennedy said he looks forward to the inauguration of what he described as the ‘Association of Former Presidents’.
“The nation will benefit if President Mills uses the expertise of President Kufuor in dealing with the international communities while using President Rawlings’ knowledge in security. That will not only bring ‘Asomdwe but also Nkoso!” said Dr. Kennedy.
During the last eight years, Dr. Kennedy stressed that former President Rawlings had some of his privileges withdrawn.
Dr. Kennedy described what former President Kufuor appears to be going through as “a deliberate, long, carefully orchestrated, drawn-out exercise to publicly humiliate him.”
In the eyes of those who are orchestrating this public humiliation, the NPP kingpin said it is nothing but pay-back time and as former President Rawlings once said “Abaa a yede bo Takyi no, eda ho”.
Dr. Kennedy thus asked “how President Mills could openly confess his faith to religious leaders one day, and the next day watch the humiliation of his predecessor without any Christian compassion?” For him, therefore, President Kufuor actually deserves better from those Ghanaians who wish him ill.
He recalled that as a result of his good works, 11.7 million Ghanaians now enjoy health insurance, saying that it would be enough justification for any Presidency. He further emphasised that under Kufuor’s leadership the country’s road network was significantly improved whilst poverty dropped by a third, with the economy expanding more than at any comparable period in Ghana’s history.
On former President Rawlings, he noted that after a decade as a dictator, he was legitimized by all Ghanaians with two mandates which enabled him to do some good things, saying “that is why he too, deserves better treatment.”
Whilst appreciating the fact that Mr. Rawlings’ treatment was not appropriate, Dr. Kennedy stressed that he (JJ) has become indifferent to the visitation of humiliation on his successor (Kufuor), indicating that he (JJ) would do well to accept the wisdom in the saying that “an eye for an eye will leave everyone blind”.
Surprised by the turn of events in the country, he wondered why President Mills has been mute over the humiliation of his predecessor, saying, “He watched as President Kufuor’s cars were taken away. He has stayed silent as the controversy raged on over Mr. Kufuor’s office accommodation issue.
He (Mills) has rather established a committee to review the ex-gratia decisions of his predecessor when clearly he lacks the authority to do so”, wondering why this attitude to the country’s former Presidents has been extended to the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes.
Whilst admitting that he does not for a moment condone corruption by former or current office-holders, Dr. Kenndy stated that “if the due processes of investigation establishes that someone was corrupt or has broken any laws, he must face the full rigours of the law.”