• Gabby's response follows a harsh reaction by Assin North MP Kennedy Agyapong
• The comment has generated controversy as party big wigs blame him for demoralizing footsoldiers
A leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has advised the Chief Executive Officer of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ken Attafuah to not be carried away when he sees a crowd.
Gabby's comments follows Ken Attafuah's public claim that he has been instructed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo not to employ any NPP executive at the NIA.
Otchere-Darko opined that though Ken Attafuah had a case, how he presented it is what has triggered controversy, in reference to a stinging reaction by Assin Central lawmaker Kennedy Agyapong, who has vowed to instigate party faithful against the NIA boss over his comments.
In a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb, Gabby said, "My good friend, Ken, should check his excitement levels when he has an audience. It helps! The bad way he said what he actually meant to say is what has caused this whole controversy. I do not think he meant it as it came out. Surely, he couldn’t have and I know so to be the case. His loyalty to the party and party members has never been in doubt."
He was quick to add that, despite this brouhaha, Ken Attafuah is a true patriot who is always eager to serve his nation.
The NIA boss had in an interview with Angel FM disclosed that a directive from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo bars him and the NIA from recruiting any known member of the ruling New Patriotic Party.
He explained that President Akufo-Addo is bent on ending the practice of state institutions being staffed with party apparatchiks.
Ken Attafuah said, “The President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged me that I should make sure no party executives are hired in the process. He does not want to leave a legacy of employing his party members and packing them into a particular sector. No!”
"He [Nana Akufo-Addo] wants us to build a neutral public service. Neutrality is one of the principles of the Public Service. We need political neutrality so we are doing what the law says we should do and the President supports it,” he continued.
Below is the full post by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko:
We should go easy on Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah. He clearly could have phrased his words intelligently and with basic sensitivity. He had no business stamping his feet on the expectations and hopes of unemployed party loyalists with such reckless callosity.
Very unwise, and some may even say selfish, considering he lost this same job when NPP lost in 2008 only to regain it after NPP regained office! At least, his memory and self-benefit ought to have even guided his tongue and stopped him from speaking out of turn.
My good friend, Ken, should check his excitement levels when he has an audience. It helps! The bad way he said what he actually meant to say is what has caused this whole controversy. I do not think he meant it as it came out. Surely, he couldn’t have and I know so to be the case. His loyalty to the party and party members has never been in doubt.
But, he is also a true patriot. A Ghanaian always eager to serve his nation.
In this case, he jammed a foot in his mouth and shot from the hip when the nozzle was aimed at his own family jewels, so to speak. He must apologise and let’s move on.
Use this as a measure: do you actually believe Akufo-Addo would tell him or anybody in his capacity to employ “no party executive” (I mean how!) Those engaged nationwide to do NIA registration, are there no NPP polling station executives among them? Again, I doubt if, in reality, the NIA staff roll under Ken Attafuah doesn’t even have an NPP bias.
But, the principle must not be lost on us at all. Recruitments must not be based on party lines. You are a loyal citizen and competent and that must matter. It is important Ghanaians believe this to be the case.
Aside NPP and NDC there are millions of Ghanaians who may not be loyalists of any party, so where do they stand in our democracy if a party card is what guarantees one employment in a public institution?
NPP should not fight this, NPP should rather see the positive spin in what he meant to say which is that for this party it is Ghana first.
If you are good at what you do and can be trusted to work in accordance with the mandate and direction of the government and specifically the said institution, don’t think only a party card can get you in. That’s how we build a nation.
NIA Boss, Professor Ken Attafuah holding a Ghana Card