Arthur Kennedy Hits Back At Kwaku Baako...Again

Dr.Arthur Kobina Kennedy, the former Communications Director of the Nana Addo 2008 Election Campaign Team and author of the book, titled �CHASING THE ELEPHANT INTO THE BUSH;The Politics Of Complacency", has responded to remarks made by the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Mr.Malik Kweku Baako on Joy Fm's News File programme on Saturday.

According to him,the esteemed journalist should rather focus his considerable talents on improving journalism--- rather than condemning books he has not read.

Read below the unedited copy of Dr.Arthur Kobina Kennedy's rejoinder to Mr.Kweku Baako.

Orangeburg, SC

USA

6TH December, 2009

Dear Sir,

RE: KWEKU BAAKO ON NEWSFILE

Permit me to respond to remarks made by the esteemed journalist, Mr. Kweku Baako on your show on Saturday, 5th December, 2009, regarding me and my book, �CHASING THE ELEPHANT INTO THE BUSH�

He was reacting to a statement I issued following his attack on my book, made on �KOKROKOO� and reported by �MYJOYONLINE�.

On your show, Mr. Baako went to great pains to prove that he was never associated with the PNDC but with June 4th--- as if there is a material difference. I linked Mr. Baako to Mr. Rawlings and his pseudo-Marxist ideology and he did not deny that. His defense reminds me of the man whose heated response to the charge of stealing was that he was not a thief because he had stolen the alleged item on a different date than the one alleged by his accuser! This time, I listened to his actual remarks after reading the report.

Since, as he and I can both attest to, there is so much tendency to misreport what people do or say, maybe Mr. Baako will focus his considerable talents on improving journalism--- rather than condemning books he has not read.

Mr. Baako�s comments about Tain are interesting. Until my book elicited that response from the former President, the public record had linked his failure to go to Tain to insecurity. Indeed, Mr. Baako buttresses that point by conceding that the former President heard that report himself on his way back to Kumasi from Wenchi. It is illustrative of the problems I chronicle in my book that the President had to travel all the way to Wenchi to learn from our Presidential candidate that he was not contesting Tain when they both reside in Accra.

In any case, the former President has written to me on the book, and conveyed both his congratulations and his disagreements about certain portions that relate to him. I commend him for his letter and its positive tone. In my response, I conveyed my gratitude for his letter and my continuing admiration for his leadership. I assured him that subsequent editions will reflect his points of view. Unlike Mr. Baako and others, the former President had read the book.

Finally, let me return to the central focus of the book, which is how the NPP can avoid the mistakes of 2008 in order to recapture power in 2012. Recapturing power will depend on purposeful action informed by learning from our mistakes.

Our party must have in 2012 a campaign team, UNITED in the task of delivering victory. It is imperative that get our supporters out to vote and have their votes counted.

It is imperative that we act forcefully to prevent the NDC shenanigans that led to the rejection of 205,438 ballots, mainly in NPP strongholds that would have given us a one-touch victory on December 7th in the Presidential contest.

It is imperative that we prevent the �accidents� between voting and declaration of results that gave a few crucial seats to Collins Dauda and others like him who now sit in Parliament in defiance of the peoples� wishes.

Happily, many in our party recognize that and they have reached out to embrace me in their numbers over the last few weeks.

To those who will take the time to read the book with an open mind, only one conclusion is possible, --- the book is not a betrayal; it is a patriotic rallying cry for victory in 2012.

If we heed the lessons of this book, we should and shall be back in 2012.

Sincerely,

Arthur Kobina Kennedy

Source: Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy