Public criticism of Amissah-Arthur's nomination must stop now! – Seth Ofori-Ohene

A political strategist of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Seth Ofori-Ohene, has, in an unusually firm tone, warned against incessant attacks on the political credentials of Vice-President-designate, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

He said the criticisms, some of which have been leveled by senior members of the party, must cease with immediate effect.

Following President John Mahama's nomination of the Central Bank Governor as his vice, a number of leading members of the NDC have expressed doubts as to whether the man can bring anything to the table electorally.

The latest of such criticisms were made by Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Victor Smith who said taking Mr Amissah-Arthur to the polls as running-mate to the president was a complete gamble.

“I'm not comfortable, I can tell you clearly. I have made that point to leadership. Amissah-Arthur for the longer time is a weakness. It will not help us the way I see politics has been done in this country. We need somebody who will bring us a lot of votes, a person to complement the president, John Mahama has a lot of ground support but you need to partner him with another strong person who can excite people,” he said.

He has subsequentlyapologized for those comments.
And Mr Ofori-Ohene said it was unacceptable for leading members of the party and the government to be questioning the political credentials of the nominee.

He said while people were entitled to their views and had a democratic and constitutional right to express them, those views must be informed, truthful and acceptable to the party.

Touting the credentials of the Vice-President-designate, the former Press Secretary to the late President Mills, said “Professor Mills himself told me in 2004, 'Mr. Amissah-Arthur is a gentleman….he is my chief fundraiser and my chief strategist,' those were the words of Prof. Mills.”

He said he had no doubt that the choice of Mr Amissah-Arthur as Vice President would have been the wish of the late president.

The former Communications Director of the NDC said it was wrong for people to, without conducting any research, “sit in your room and pretend that you know the strength of a candidate.”

He said he had worked with the nominee in previous elections campaigns and could vouch for his political acumen and loyalty to the NDC.

Mr Amissah-Arthur is yet to be approved by Parliament. The Appointments Committee of the House has scheduled Monday August 6, for his vetting.