Pianim’s comments are ill-informed – Jake

Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party Jake Obetsebi Lamptey has reacted to comments by Kwame Pianim, a leading member of the party, who says the NPP is on the wrong path by refusing to concede defeat in the 2012 Presidential elections.

In an exclusive interview with Africawatch Magazine, Kwame Pianim said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) needs the courage to confront defeat because “it is good for democracy and the nation”.

He blamed the national executives, for exhibiting what he termed “intellectual and mental laziness”, insisting the party is heading in the wrong direction.

But in a quick reaction on JOYNEWS Brief on Multi TV, Mr. Obetsebi Lamptey said, Mr. Pianim’s comments are not well informed, although he is entitled to his opinions.

He told JOY News’ Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey that, “Mr. Mpianin is entitled to his opinion. If he feels we are on the wrong path, he is entitled to believe that, and if he chooses to use that to cause some disaffection within the party, he is also at liberty to do so. But when it comes to judging the people who claim the party is on the wrong path, I’ll look at the path that they themselves have trodden before weighing up what their interpretation of the wrong or right path means to the way the NPP is handling its affairs.”

Although his reaction is not the official response of the party, Mr. Obetsebi Lamptey said; it’s hard for him to understand why anyone who has not seen any evidence, would say they don’t believe there is evidence to challenge the election results.

The flag-bearer of the NPP Nana Akuffo Addo and his vice presidential candidate, Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia and the Chairman Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, are currently in court contesting the results of the 2012 Presidential Election. Mr. Pianim was critical of the party's executives in the way they have handled the election defeat.

He is quoted in the Africawatch Magazine interview as saying, “when the results of an election are announced, we should be ready to accept the results no matter how bitter… the interests of individual members and those of the party sometimes differ…Nana Akufo-Addo technically ceased to be the leader of the NPP on Dec. 9 after the declaration of the results by the electoral commissioner. The NPP as a group is not party to the case pending at the Supreme Court… the case is still the act of three individual members of the party. Until the Supreme Court reverses the declared results of the 2012 elections, all Ghanaians, including NPP members, must fully recognise President Mahama as the legitimate Head of State of the republic and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces”.

Mr. Pianim added that “the boycott [of the President’s inauguration] somehow portrayed the NPP executives as confused people”.

He continued that “some of these self-appointed spokespersons of the NPP seem to talk anyhow. Their demeanor and arrogant utterances tend to turn off people from the NPP. They are part of our problem and did not help us in the elections”, adding, “I think by making a fuss about the court case, the NPP is losing the opportunity to really do a proper review of our performance, which is important for the future successes of our party.”

However, Mr. Obetsebi Lamptey would not take kindly to these comments and hit back at Mr. Pianim saying: “if you actually have no knowledge or not taken the trouble to find out about what we are really doing, then how do you turn around to say what we are doing is wrong. I can’t see how you can make that judgment, because if you really are the substantial person you say you are, you’d always make sure that whatever you say is supported by evidence that you yourself have seen and evaluated”

He insisted the decision not to accept defeat in the election is based on the fact that the party has incredible evidence to prove that the election was not fair and did not reflect the sovereign will of the people.

Mr. Obetsebi Lamptey barely fell short of questioning the description of Mr. Pianim as "Senior Member" of the party;

“What I want to point out to some of the persons who pass themselves off as ‘senior members’ of the party although there is no such designation, is that, the doors of the party are opened to every single member (of the party) who wants to know exactly what we are doing”.

The NPP is yet to issue an official response to Kwame Pianim's comments published in the Africawatch magazine.