It was quite a spectacle when two NPP MPs, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi and Kwaku Kwarteng, broke away from the party line to publicly criticize their own team.
It's akin to witnessing a footballer score an own goal and then high-five the opposing team – shocking, confusing, and oddly entertaining.
Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi: The Rebel MP
Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, known among NPP members as the 'Rebel MP', made headlines by breaking ranks amidst the party's search for a running mate ahead of the 2024 general election. Below are what he made headlines for:
Ofori-Atta must go campaign
On October 25, 2022, a significant event unfolded in Ghana's Parliament when some members of the majority caucus, led by Appiah-Kubi, called for the resignation of the then-Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
This demand stemmed from concerns about the nation's financial management and the belief that a change in leadership could improve economic conditions
"We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflicts of interest, lack of confidence, and trust against the leadership of the Finance Ministry. The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concerns known to our President through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response.
"We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to the finance sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy," he said.
Despite their strong demand, the president initially disregarded the MPs' concerns. However, a cabinet reshuffle two years later resulted in Mr. Ofori-Atta being removed from his position as Minister for Finance, an outcome credited to Appiah-Kubi's campaign.
Appiah-Kubi's opposition to NAPO's nomination as Bawumia's running mate
Following recent news about the nomination of Manhyia South MP, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO) as the running mate of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Appiah-Kubi expressed his disapproval in an interview on June 27, 2024.
"Well, I wouldn't speak for the majority because we have not been consulted as a caucus for us to state our position. But me, Appiah-Kubi, you can solicit my view on that. If it were up to me to choose, I wouldn't choose him. It's not my preference. Appiah-Kubi is saying that he is not my preference. But that doesn't mean that he is not qualified. If there was an opportunity like that, I would express a candidate, however acceptable otherwise, to our presidential candidate. I would want someone who will be open with the people on the ground, who will be able to deliver the votes, and who would also submit to the presidency, and who will also be important in bringing Parliament closer to the executive," he said.
His comment did not sit well with the Majority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who reprimanded the Asante Akim North MP for his utterance.
"We should all respect party rules. You cannot go out of your way to describe your colleague in an unacceptable manner," he told reporters in Parliament.
Despite the Majority Leader's affirmation that the caucus generally supported NAPO's nomination, Appiah-Kubi restated his position against it.
However, he later reconciled with NAPO following his official introduction as the running mate.
Kwaku Kwarteng: Ghana’s economy is like a Ponzi scheme
Kwaku Kwarteng, Member of Parliament for Obuasi West and spokesperson on the Economy Committee, has attributed Ghana’s economic crisis to decades of poor politics and economic mismanagement by past and present governments.
In an opinion piece, Kwarteng stated that Ghana’s economy is being operated like a Ponzi scheme.
"The economic problems Ghana is facing today, at both the national level and in households, are also the cumulative effects of many decades, spanning different governments, of the bad politics and economic mismanagement that have characterised the governance of our country. Since independence, we have survived by constantly overspending our means and borrowing to finance the overspending. And many of these expenditures are just bad prioritisation. We always offer higher interest to lenders, borrow more, use a part to repay previous debts, and the rest to pay for the current year’s overspending. So, we have been running our country’s economy like a Ponzi scheme. The economy is struggling today because lenders are now refusing to lend to us. It is just like a Ponzi scheme going into crisis once people stop depositing their monies with them."
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He urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to provide visionary leadership to rescue the country from its economic woes if they hope to break the eight-year cycle.
According to him, the NPP must acknowledge past and present failures of the political class, breaking away from the norm of labeling all politicians as corrupt.
Kwarteng called on the NPP to implement comprehensive and far-reaching reforms to address decades of poor governance and economic mismanagement.
“To break the eight, therefore, we must first break that norm by doing the following: Acknowledge the past and present failures of the political class to provide the kind of quality leadership required to avert the mess in which we find our country today. Adopt deep and far-reaching reforms to address the decades of bad politics and economic mismanagement. We must convince voters that we shall be ruthless in our determination to fix this country, that we shall stay the course no matter the challenges, and that there shall be no sacred cows!” he wrote.
He believes that breaking the eight-year cycle will follow organically if the NPP sets a good example by acknowledging the country’s challenges, taking responsibility for its mistakes, and implementing meaningful change.
“Once we lead by example, we can say with integrity to our people that we are sinking in a common boat and call all Ghanaians to duty. As a political party, if we sincerely believe and can demonstrate our faithfulness to these commitments, breaking the eight will follow naturally.”
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