US-based medical doctor and political commentator Dr Arthur Kennedy has advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to sideline former President Nana Akufo-Addo as a public face of the party.
Speaking on Starr FM in reaction to the NPP’s delegates conference held in Kumasi, Kennedy argued that the party must learn from historical examples in the United States, where defeated leaders and candidates are often kept at a distance after major electoral losses.
“Everybody who has studied political history knows that when such things happen in the US, for example, when you come to 1932 after the Republican candidate Hoover lost, he was never seen at a Republican event again. In 1980, after Carter lost, the Democrats sidelined him,” Kennedy said.
He added that many Democrats today prefer not to feature former Vice President Kamala Harris prominently because “the public blames or associates them with significant failures.”
Kennedy was careful to distinguish between the man and his record in office.
“I think that Nana Addo is a fine man, but he was a bad president,” he stated.
The Medical Doctor also contrasted Akufo-Addo’s standing with that of another former NPP president, John Agyekum Kufuor, noting that the public still holds Kufuor in positive regard despite the passage of time, unlike the more recent former leader.
He maintained that private consultation with Akufo-Addo remains appropriate, but elevating him as a public face of the party would be a strategic error.
“If I was giving the NPP advice, I will say that one of the foundational things is to sideline Nana Akufo-Addo, not because you shouldn’t consult him privately, you should, but as a public face of the party, it’s a mistake,” Kennedy said.
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