We owe a lot of people apologies – NPP’s Arthur Kennedy
A leading Member and one-time presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy has criticised the NPP over what he describes as a hypocritical approach to sweep things under the carpet.
According to the Physician and political activist, the NPP’s recent decision to grant amnesty to party members who have been suspended, as well as members who drifted away from the party, may have good intentions, but the party must first apologize to Ghanaians rather than provide amnesty for its defunct members.
Dr. Arthur Kennedy, while speaking on Joy Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Monday, August 18, Dr. Kennedy argued that while the intention behind granting amnesty may have been to foster unity, what the party truly needs is reconciliation through accountability.
“I think the intent is good, but the execution was botched. The unity that is needed is indispensable to the success of political parties, as history has shown. But I think we owe a lot of people apologies, not just amnesties,” he stated.
Dr. Kennedy maintained that key personalities within the NPP, including former National Chairman Dr. Paul Afoko and the former General Secretary of the party, Ing. Kwabena Agyapong, must be apologised to for the treatment the NPP meted out to them.
“We need to apologise to Ghanaians for running the party as if it were a private club that belongs to a few individuals. A party is a public institution and must be run in a way that attracts people,” he added.
According to the NPP stalwart, the NPP suffered an unprecedented defeat during the 2024 General elections largely due to internal divisions, underscoring the need to rebuild trust with the base of the party and the wider electorate.
“In actual fact, the 2024 elections we lost partly because we were divided. Twenty percent of John Mahama’s votes came from old NPP members who never resigned publicly, so they don’t need amnesty. But those votes must be earned back in 2028,” he explained.
He further described the amnesty move as hypocritical, recalling that in 2008 the party allowed someone without a membership card to become running mate, while disqualifying other members for not having “developed the party enough.”
He opined that the NPP must make peace not only with suspended members but also with the Ghanaian people for what he called “bone-headed policies.”
“The same way you suspended and humiliated them, that is the same place you should go and make peace with them. The apologies are important—not only to Afoko and others, but to the people of Ghana, for policies such as spending $100 million on a hole while children still studied under trees and markets remained uncompleted,” he said.