I'm A strong Party Man - Amissah -Arthur

Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur - President Mahama's nominee as Vice President

The Vice-President nominee, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has stated that he has been in frontline politics in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) since its formation in 1992.

He explained that contrary to claims that he had been a 'back bencher' in the party after his exit as Deputy Minister of Finanace and Economic Planing, he played a major role in the NDC's victory in the 1992 elections after the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) had metamorphosed into a political party.

Speaking to journalists in Accra Thursday, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said he was in the frontline of the 1992 and 1996 campaigns and travelled with candidate Mills throughout the country during the campaigns.

The Vice-President designate refuted allegations that he was not a strong NDC man and politician and indicated that he had been part of the PNDC and had participated in all the campaigns that the Ndc had run since 1992.

He said he had been a member of the Central regional campaign team of the NDC and was very active in its politics.

Paa Amissah-Arthur said he had been involved in the writing of NDC manifestoes since 1992 and was a member of the group that drafted the policies of the Better Ghana agenda.

Therefore, he said, he was not only a technocrat, as some people suggested, but had been active in the political movement of the NDC.

expressed confidence that the Appointments Committee of Parliament will approve of his nomination since he does not have any criminal records.

He said “there is nothing to fear” in the vetting since he had been diligent, firm and principled throughout his working career in the public and private sectors.

Mr Amissah-Arthur, who is the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, was speaking with journalists today (Thursday) in Accra on his nomination as the Vice-President by President John Dramani Mahama and his preparation for his public vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament scheduled for Monday, August 6, 2012.

The committee decided to vet Mr Amissah-Arthur on Wednesday after the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford –Addo, had read a communication from President Mahama informing the House of his nomination for the position of Vice-President.

The position of Vice-President became vacant when the then Vice-President Mahama was sworn in as the substantive President following the demise of former President John Evans Atta Mills on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.

The 1992 Constitution stipulates that the Vice-President nominee – in this case Mr Amissah-Arthur – has to receive approval from Parliament.

Mr Amissah Arthur said his records was already available, and indicated that in 2001, he was invited to the police headquarters in Accra to explain happenings in government in the 1980s.

He said the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) also invited him later in relation to a Canadian assistance package for Ghana.

He said the police and the SFO had found nothing wrong against him in their investigations.

Mr Amissah Arthur said he was ready to provide all the questions that the Appointments Committee of Parliament would pose to him, saying that “Parliament will ask all the questions and I will provide all the answers.”

He said he would use the opportunity to narrate he was able to come this far from a modest background.

That, he said, was to encourage the youth that they might falter in life, but “you can get up, clear the dust and move on.”

On his record as the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, especially the depreciation of the cedi, Mr Amissah Arthur said the cedi had been depreciating every election year since 1992.

He said in the past election years, the cedi had depreciated to as much as 40 per cent to 60 per cent.

Therefore, he said, this year’s cedi depreciation had been the lowest so far, and indicated that his outfit had been able to stabilise the depreciation to 17 per cent.

He said not all factors contributing to the depreciation of the cedi were economic, and indicate that there were some psychological factors as well.

On what he would bring to the table to enhance the fortunes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the December 7, 2012, election in case he was given the nod to be Vice-President and flag bearer of the party, Mr Amissah Arthur said with his knowledge in economics, he would be able to explain the policies choices to Ghanaians “so that they can make informed choices.”

He stressed that he came with a certain background of understanding of the economic issues which would inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.

Mr Amissah Arthur said his nomination as the Vice-President as against the nomination of Dr *Mamudu Bawumia, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, as the running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer, Nana Akuffo Addo, did not make it a contest between two economics.

Rather, he said, it would be a contest of ideas, and admitted that the economy would be an important issue in the election.

The Vice-President nominee refuted allegation that he was not a strong NDC man and politician, and indicated that he had been part of the People’s National Defence Council (PNDC) participated in all the campaign that the NDC had waged since 1992.

He said he was in the frontline of the 1992 and 1996 campaigns, and travelled with the former President Mills throughout the country during the campaigns.

He was a member of the Central Regional campaign team of the NDC and was very active in the National Democratic Movement of the party, he said.

Mr Amissah Arthur said he was involved in the writing of the NDC manifesto since 1992, and was a member of the group that drafted the policies of the Better Ghana Agenda.

Therefore, he said, he was not only a technocrat as some people suggested, but had been active in the political movement of the NDC.

The Chairman of the Bank of Ghana workers, Mr Ephraim Agidi, said Mr Amissah-Arthur had an open-door policy that had given the staff the chance to meet him and discuss their welfare at any time.

He said once he was going to serve the country in that higher capacity, the workers could not object to his going, because they were sure that he would continue with the work there.

For his part, the Chairman of the Bank of Ghana Senior Staff Association, Mr Jones Ansong, said Mr Amissah-Arthur was able to calm down nerves and stop agitation by workers.

Besides, he said, Mr Amissah-Arthur had motivated the staff to the extent that people started coming to work on time with some doing extra time.