Editorial: Kufuor Has A Legitimate Point

The former Communications Director of Nana Akufo Addo�s Campaign team, Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy, appears to have incurred the displeasure of his own party people, including former President Kufuor, following the publication of his book �Chasing the Elephant to the Bush,� where he chronicled events he believed led to the defeat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2008 elections. Former President Kufuor, in particular, is not happy with the assertion in the book that he declared no voting would take place in Tain. According to him, he was at Wenchi, ready to enter Tain to campaign, when he heard on air that the NPP was no more going to contest the Tain election. The party leadership had taken the decision in Accra without consulting him. In a statement which he issued through his spokesman, Frank Agyekum in Accra on Wednesday, Kufuor also argued that Arthur Kennedy made a monumental mistake by failing to consult those he implicated in the defeat of the party in the book, before publishing it. The Chronicle is not condemning Arthur Kennedy for the book he has written, because it would help the leadership of the party correct some of the issues he has raised. We however think that ex-President Kufuor has raised a legitimate point about his failure to speak to those he had implicated in the book. The Chronicle is aware that though the author of this controversial book is a medical doctor, he has the flair for writing judging from the numerous articles that he sends to the print media houses for publication. He is simply a good writer, but that does not mean that he should come out with a book making such serious allegations against his colleagues, without contacting them to put their input into it. In writing a book, the author must always argue for and against the topic before drawing his own conclusions, but this did not happen in the case of Arthur Kennedy�s book. Mr Kufuor and others, who share his views, are therefore justified in saying that the book is a one-sided affair. Despite these setbacks, we think the author must not be hanged by his colleagues. They should take time and study some for the points he has raised, and see if they can correct them before the campaign starts for the 2012 elections.