[ 2012-08-03 ]

Seth Ofori-Ohene

Public criticism of Amissah-Arthur’s nomination must stop now! – Seth Ofori-Ohen



A political strategist of the governing National
Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Seth Ofori-Ohene,
has, in an unusually firm tone, warned against
incessant attacks on the political credentials of
Vice-President-designate, Mr Kwesi
Amissah-Arthur.

He said the criticisms, some of which have been
leveled by senior members of the party, must cease
with immediate effect.

Following President John Mahama’s nomination of
the Central Bank Governor as his vice, a number of
leading members of the NDC have expressed doubts
as to whether the man can bring anything to the
table electorally.

The latest of such criticisms were made by Eastern
Regional Minister, Mr Victor Smith who said taking
Mr Amissah-Arthur to the polls as running-mate to
the president was a complete gamble.

“I’m not comfortable, I can tell you clearly. I
have made that point to leadership. Amissah-Arthur
for the longer time is a weakness. It will not
help us the way I see politics has been done in
this country. We need somebody who will bring us a
lot of votes, a person to complement the
president, John Mahama has a lot of ground support
but you need to partner him with another strong
person who can excite people,” he said.

He has subsequentlyapologized for those comments.

And Mr Ofori-Ohene said it was unacceptable for
leading members of the party and the government to
be questioning the political credentials of the
nominee.
He said while people were entitled to their views
and had a democratic and constitutional right to
express them, those views must be informed
truthful and acceptable to the party.

Touting the credentials of the
Vice-President-designate, the former Press
Secretary to the late President Mills, said
“Professor Mills himself told me in 2004, ‘Mr.
Amissah-Arthur is a gentleman….he is my chief
fundraiser and my chief strategist,’ those were
the words of Prof. Mills.”

He said he had no doubt that the choice of Mr
Amissah-Arthur as Vice President would have been
the wish of the late president.

The former Communications Director of the NDC said
it was wrong for people to, without conducting any
research, “sit in your room and pretend that you
know the strength of a candidate.”

He said he had worked with the nominee in previous
elections campaigns and could vouch for his
political acumen and loyalty to the NDC.

Mr Amissah-Arthur is yet to be approved by
Parliament. The Appointments Committee of the
House has scheduled Monday August 6, for his
vetting.

Source - MyjoyOnline

... go Back