ALL IS NOT WELL WITH NPP — APPIAH-MENKA (PAGE 15)

OUTSPOKEN New Patriotic Party (NPP) elder, Mr Akenten Appiah-Menka, has said it will be ridiculous for anyone to believe that all is well with the party.
The party elder told the Daily Graphic at his office that factionalism in the party was real, and that the party’s Council of Elders of which he was a member must move with dispatch to tackle the issues.
He noted that the factionalism could work against the party’s chances in the 2012 elections, and therefore called for every effort to unite the party.
At the NPP Conference last weekend, ex-President Kufuor, who had been accused of belonging to one of the factions in the party, denied any such thing.
He told the conference that he belonged to the NPP and not any faction, if any such thing existed.
However, Mr Appiah-Menka disagreed, saying “We have to say the truth in order to correct the wrongs in the party.”
He stated that the factionalism had become so dangerous that it was creeping to the grass roots of the party.
Mr Appiah-Menka pointed out that it was true that factions prevailed in many systems but the important thing was how to manage the situation without allowing them to destroy the foundation of the systems.
For the NPP, the Council of Elders member noted that factionalism was destroying the party, and as such the council needed to put its feet down.
Mr Appiah-Menka said since 1996, the NPP had seen some measure of factionalism but what was happening today was more dangerous.
“Today we hear of friends of various personalities in the NPP. Can we say this is good for the party?
Mr Appiah-Menka admitted that over the years the Council of Elders had not performed creditably with respect to tackling challenges in the party, and said the time had come for a change.
He described the constitutional amendments made at the conference as, “paper amendments” saying they had been made but what was important was the people who would work with them.
He was, however, happy about the broadening of the electoral college of the party. “I believe that the NPP leadership and indeed the entire party will abide by the constitutional changes and work with them to get the party going, “he said.
Mr Appiah-Menka stressed the need for the Council of Elders of the NPP and the NDC to work together to get their party members see national issues as such rather than with partisan political eyes.
“We are in a country where we politicise every issue, and this is very bad for us. At the moment there is a world financial crisis. It needs national consensus to fight it in the local context, “he added.
Mr Appiah-Menka also spoke against what he described as the frightening level of tribalism and corruption creeping into the body politic of the country.