Gabby Begs NPP For Attafuah

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Founder of the Danquah Institute (DI), has appealed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) faithful to be temperate in reactions to a recent public statement by Prof Ken Attafuah, Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), that he had received instructions from President Akufo-Addo to never employ any executive of the party to work at the Authority.

Mr. Otchere-Darko noted that although Prof Attafuah did not speak well and his statement was offensive to the elephant family, “his loyalty to the party and party members has never been in doubt.”

The DI Founder suggested an apology from the Professor would be in order.

The exact statement from Prof. Attafuah that has unlocked the gates of hell on him was this: “The President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, he has charged me that I should make sure no party executive are hired in the process. He does not want to leave a legacy of employing his party members and packing them into a particular sector. No!”, Professor Attafuah noted during a radio interview with Angel FM.

The NIA Boss continued: No. He [Nana Akufo-Addo] wants us to build a neutral public service. Neutrality is one of the principles of the Public Service. We need political neutrality so we are doing what the law says we should do and the President supports it.”

He has since become a virtual punching bag from vexed members of the NPP who have called for his sack amidst all manner of jaw-dropping accusations.

Gabby Otchere-Darko, perhaps, feeling some sympathy for the Professor, took to his facebook wall to call for calm and an apology.

Below is the exact post from Otchere-Darko, unedited:

“We should go easy on Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah. He clearly could have phrased his words intelligently and with basic sensitivity. He had no business stamping his feet on the expectations and hopes of unemployed party loyalists with such reckless callosity.

“Very unwise, and some may even say selfish, considering he lost this same job when NPP lost in 2008 only to regain it after NPP regained office! At least, his memory and self-benefit ought to have even guided his tongue and stopped him from speaking out of turn.

“My good friend, Ken, should check his excitement levels when he has an audience. It helps! The bad way he said what he actually meant to say is what has caused this whole controversy. I do not think he meant it as it came out. Surely, he couldn’t have and I know so to be the case. His loyalty to the party and party members has never been in doubt. But, he is also a true patriot. A Ghanaian always eager to serve his nation.

“In this case, he jammed a foot in his mouth and shot from the hip when the nozzle was aimed at his own family jewels, so to speak. He must apologise and let’s move on.

“Use this as a measure: do you actually believe Akufo-Addo would tell him or anybody in his capacity to employ “no party executive” (I mean how!) Those engaged nationwide to do NIA registration, are there no “NPP polling station executives among them? Again, I doubt if, in reality, the NIA staff roll under Ken Attafuah doesn’t even have an NPP bias.

“But, the principle must not be lost on us at all. Recruitments must not be based on party lines. You are a loyal citizen and competent and that must matter. It is important Ghanaians believe this to be the case. Aside NPP and NDC there are millions of Ghanaians who may not be loyalists of any party, so where do they stand in our democracy if a party card is what guarantees one employment in a public institution?

“NPP should not fight this, NPP should rather see the positive spin in what he meant to say which is that for this party it is Ghana first. If you are good at what you do and can be trusted to work in accordance with the mandate and direction of the government and specifically the said institution, don’t think only a party card can get you in. That’s how we build a nation.”

Kennedy Agyapong Angry

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong is one of the persons to have expressed disappointment about what Ken Attafuah said.

The MP said the utterances from Professor Attafuah have the potential of destroying the party’s chances at the 2024 polls and therefore he should be axed from his top job at the NIA.

“Professor Attufuah should look for people with political neutrality to go and do the 2024 campaign. I would incite every NPP member who has not been employed against this man and there would be demonstrations all over the country. We are giving Nana Akufo-Addo some time to sack this man or we start our demonstrations”, Kennedy noted on Asempa FM.

He continued: “During the campaign, there were people who sat on vehicles and got injured, someone’s eye was plucked out so today Professor Attufuah is making us know that if such persons had died, they would have died for nothing.

“The man has no bases for his statement. The National Youth Organizer, has a brother who is an IT Specialist who understands national identification and he was the one who should have had that appointment but by the time I travelled to India and back, the job had been given to Attafuah, a lawyer. It was not given to the IT Specialist but you a lawyer had that position. Why did you not go seek for the job of Attorney-General?

“I just checked from Parliament and he has no political neutrality. He is bragging all over. Ask him if he did not show interest in becoming Speaker of Parliament and he did not fail at it?

“We are not kids. He is destroying the NPP party for us. May God bless him. What is wrong with employing qualified NPP members? Are they not human beings? “Kennedy Agyapong added.