'NPP is too big an elephant to be chased into the bush'

The cover of Arthur K's book

An activist of the New Patriotic Party has spoken against the title and timing of a political book authored by Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy, a key member of the party's campaign team for Election 2008.

He wants Arthur K to withdraw his book from circulation.

Sheikh Larry, who is also the Ayawaso East Coordinator of the of the Nasara Club, a youth wing of the NPP, thinks Arthur Kennedy's book is unnecessarily arming the NPP's political opponents with vital information for any future election, more so when it provides an easy campaign slogan –Chasing the elephant into the Bush – for the NDC.

The book, titled Chasing the Elephant into the Bush with a rider THE POLITICS OF COMPLACENCY, takes an introspection of the party's failed attempt to retain power, and chronicles activities and events in the build up to the election. A summary of the book describes it as “an insider's account of the closest elections in Africa's history. From his vantage point as the Communications chief of the governing party's campaign, the author provides a gripping account of key meetings and the mistakes that cost his party victory. He candidly assesses all the major characters in the campaign. He lays out a path for an NPP victory in 2012 that is inspiring and grounded in the reality of his experience.”

The book has become the subject of controversy on the Ghanaian political scene since Tuesday when the Daily Dispatch newspaper published what it said was an acknowledgement in the book that the NPP's presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, was told by a polls expert as early as four months to the polls that he was not going to win ballot and that the National Democratic Congress' candidate then, Prof J.E.A. Mills, was going to be elected president.

Sheikh Larry, who featured on Asempa FM's Ekosii Sεn discussion programme hosted by Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Tuesday, protested vehemently against the title and insisted it cannot bode any good for the party. He said given the illiteracy rate in the country, the title offers easy reference for majority of voters who can hang onto such a catchy phrase that was also employed to a huge advantage by the NDC in 2008 election.

He said there are several other revelations in the book that will be harmful to the health of the NPP, including the author's association and references to the Danquah Institute, a policy think tank associated with the NPP, which he said breeds apathy and tribalism within the party.

Dr. Arthur Kennedy has however disclaimed the Daily Dispatch publication as maliciously inclined and reported out of context.

Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline