NPP to gag Kwame Pianim

The leadership of the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has expressed strong reservations and misgivings about the remarks made by Mr. Kwame Pianim, a leading member of the party, against the former President , Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor.

According to the NPP, a comparison of Mr. Kufuor to Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, also a former President and Founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), to the effect that Mr. Kufuor did little in the fight against corruption, was unfortunate and untenable, taking into account that Kufuor did much to fight corruption.

The NPP, at its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, resolved that Mr. Pianim, a veteran economist, should be talked to, to refrain from granting further interviews to the media on the matter.

To the party, consistent responses by Mr. Pianim to stand by his position would go a long way to dent the image of the NPP, and that of the former president.

The Chronicle reports that at the NEC meeting of the party, which was held last week, the leadership tasked three members to have a discourse with Mr. Pianim, to desist from granting further interviews, with regard to his assertion.

Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo, a former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, an aspiring national chairman of the NPP, and Mr. Joseph Henry Mensah, a former Senior Minister, were to interact with the renown economist, on the need for him to stop making further public comments.

Party members at the meeting contended that even though Mr. Pianim had the right to do his assessment of President Mills, it was wrong for him to compare Mr. Kufuor to Mr. Rawlings, knowing for a fact, that Mr. Kufuor made unrelenting commitments to the fight against corruption.

The leadership believed they would be able to counsel him about the implications and the effect it would have on the fortunes of the NPP, if he continues to grant interviews to the media to justify his assertions.

Mr. Pianim last week hit the headlines, when he declared President John Evans Atta Mills as a man of honesty and integrity, ready to combat corruption. According to him, some actions of President Mills, since his assumption of office, had made him (Pianim) to believe that the president cannot be corrupted.

The NPP leading member further noted that President Mills had rejected two envelopes, which reportedly contained monies, which to him, was a clear indication that he was ready to fight corruption.

He noted further that he could vouch for President Mills as being an honest person who would not steal form the state purse.

“I can vouch for him, because he has shown that he would not be corrupted.”

In a related development, the NPP has expressed disgust over a book authored by Dr. Arthur Kennedy, under the title, “Chasing the Elephant into the Bush”.

At the NEC meeting, when issues concerning the controversial book were raised, most members got infuriated, and noted that his book was full of errors and was also non-analytical.

According to the leadership of the party, the NPP guru who contested the presidential primaries with seventeen others, and got only a single vote, and became the head of Communications of the Nana Addo Dankwah campaign team, hit below the belt in his analysis.

To the party, instead of responding to him through a press statement, a critical review of the book in an analytical form would be appropriate to officially correct all the ill-informed analysis made by Dr. Kennedy, who is fond of rebutting issues through press statements, when his desire to achieve a political score hit the hard rock.

The Chronicle reports that party members at the meeting have lost absolute confidence in Arthur K, a physician turned politician. The General Secretary of NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow, the director of communications, K.A. Kwarteng refused to comment on the story when The Chronicle contacted them.