Matters Arising Out of Owusu Bempah's Appointment As Deputy Communications Director

I have been following the conversations around the appointment of directors and their deputies of various roles in the NPP.

So far, it has been a mixture of excitement, jubilations, recriminations and open disdain.

And the highlight here is how Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu's appointment to the position of Deputy Director of Communications has been leading the news.

To some, Owusu Bempah has no deep roots in the NPP, and as such, he deserves no place in the hierarchy of the party. To others, he's a blue-colour party activist and deserves every elevation that comes with being a true party person.

For me, it is all much ado about nothing.

To all intent and purposes, I grew up voting NPP all my life. In fact, I started doing NPP politics way back in 1992 and I remember having to organise for the party at the trenches in the Ashanti Region.

I am familiar with the Ashanti Akyem politics and I know the Owusu Bempah family at Agogo. I can vouch for the authenticity of Owusu Bempah and how the NPP runs through his family’s veins.

In actual fact, Owusu Bempah is an unrepentant adherent of the New Patriotic Party.

In my life, I have watched Owusu Bempah's father brought the Danquah Busia club to the Ashanti Region, and Agogo for that matter. I witnessed the exploits of his uncle Nana Adu Asabre, who later served as the Ashanti Akyem North NPP chairman until his demise.

I also witnessed how Owusu Bempah's uncle picked nomination forms and paid for the filing fees of the late former Finance Minister, Hon Kwadwo Baah Wiredu when he contested the parliamentary elections in 1996. Yes, it is also true that
Kwadwo Baah Wiredu was the first cousin of Owusu Bempah's dad. Indeed, Nana Yaw Fekae, Owusu Bempah's maternal uncle was also the founding father of the Danquah Busia club in Asante Akim North.

This is a family of pure NPP stock. They party runs through the veins. Indeed, Owusu Bempah is a scion of a multigenerational NPP activist, and some are only now beginning to comprehend.

Of course, I'm sharply reminded that along the line, Owusu Bempah strayed into the touchline, and in support of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, but then, are these pathetic self-indulgent folks baying for his blood implying that they're unaware of the fact that Owusu Bempah has been a card bearing member of the NPP since 20217?

Are these people not bothered in the least that Owusu Bempah is competent enough to deliver the goods without fear or favour?

Again, are they paying attention to the aggressive style of communication that the NDC has adopted, and that the NPP needs a versatile player cast in the mold of Alistair Campbell to assist Richard Ahiagba to lead the PR and communications unit?

Indeed, if proof were ever needed that Owusu Bempah is more than qualified for the job, here it is - His nomination by the party to face off with Sammy with regards to the "Asempa Y3 Tia" program in the lead up to the 2020 elections. Indeed, Owusu Bempah held his own against the incorrigible Sammy Gyamfi and delivered the job precisely as he should and the results are out there for all of us to check out. It is undoubtedly clear that Owusu Bempah is a vessel for all the great elements of the NPP tradition. He's not perfect just like every other human. But he has approached every job or assignment given to him with all the gravitas he could muster as appropriate to the job.

Let's all think, for a second, the NPP as a party has done the needful. The party needs the support of all good party folks to rally behind the new executives to carry out their mandate of winning election 2024.

Source: Nana Benyin Sarpong