Hiplife Musician A-Plus For Gomoa East MP

Hiplife musician and political satirist A-Plus says he will be contesting as a parliamentary candidate for the Gomoa East constituency during the 2012 elections.

A-Plus, known in private life as Kwame Asare-Obeng, spoke to News-One on Thursday about his political ambition: News-One: are you really running for Parliament? A-Plus: Yes you heard right. I would be contesting for Gomoa East but I’m not going in for any NPP or NDC thing. I want to contest as an independent candidate and that is exactly what I would be doing.

News-One: Therefore you would become a singing MP?

A-Plus: I have always had different ambitions. I was not born a musician and I would not limit myself to music. When I become a Parliamentarian, I would still do music as a hobby. I literally walked into Accra and I have gone through different stages and done different things for living. I am moving forward.

News-One: You have abandoned the NPP you campaigned for. A-Plus: If I campaigned for the NPP in 2008, it does not mean that I cannot serve my constituency as an independent candidate in 2013 and beyond. That would be a very myopic view to hold. My ambition for now is to become a Member of Parliament for my constituency and that is what would occupy my time, attention and energy.

News-One: Would you campaign for Nana Akufo-Addo for President? A-Plus: If Nana Addo has some work he wants me to do for him and that work is not unconstitutional and I have the time for it, why not? I have always respected Nana Addo and would forever do so. But that does not mean that if I want to serve my people, I must necessarily do that on the ticket of Nana Addo’s party. He himself believes in multi-party democracy and the essence of independent candidates.

But mind you, several top persons in the NPP, including Felix Owusu Agyepong are on record to have blamed we the musicians, for their party’s loss in 2008. What they forget is that we campaigned for Nana Addo as a candidate and not the NPP as a party. Our aim was to present Nana Addo as someone who is liked by Ghanaians and after the first round, he was leading, although several of his party’s MPs had lost their seats.

After that campaign, the type of things we heard was very disheartening and it is sad that the party has not come out to disassociate itself from such comments. It makes it seem as if it is a position held by the NPP and not just some top individuals in the party. I wonder if they would have the courage to ask musicians to campaign for them this time round.

News-One: Would you campaign for a Professor Mills Presidency? A-Plus: Listen, I don’t want to get entangled in any partisan politics. I do not hate President Mills and I have realized that it is not true that a particular government or party would victimize a group of people who campaigned against it. Ghana has grown beyond that and Professor Mills has demonstrated it.

There are people in the NDC I really like and there are some in there I just hate. So also I don’t like some people in the NPP and would not want to see their faces yet there are others in the same party I also eat with from the same bowl. It is not about colours, it is about leadership and individual differences. Campaigning for NPP or NDC in 2012 would depend on whether I even have the time because as I said, my preoccupation would be to enter parliament as an independent candidate.

News-One: Why Parliament? A-Plus: My brother, you don’t need to ask me this because you are a political writer and you know what happens to people who enter parliament on the tickets of this party or that party. Once you do that, your sense of judgment becomes tied to the interest of your party even in cases where it is not in the interest of people who elected you.

I want to encourage my generation. I want to motivate my people to take their destinies into their hands and stop waiting for this party or that party. I want to galvanize the efforts of our fathers in the farming communities and prove that agriculture is the backbone of our economy so it should be invested in. I want to make a difference in the lives of my people and move with them to look beyond political colors as far as development is concerned. I have the time and energy. I have the dream and passion. I want to serve.

News-One: Thanks for the interview A-Plus: I should be thanking you. I would make you my communications manager.