One of the presidential aspirants of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Arthur Kennedy says other candidates vying for the same position should publicly declare any criminal conduct of their competitors instead of resorting to innuendos.

Arthur Kennedy, one of the 20 or so candidates seeking to lead the NPP into the 2008 general elections was speaking to Joy News about the circulation of anonymous text messages raising serious questions about the candidature of Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo.

Another message is being circulated today about a member of Nana Akufo-Addo's team, Gabby Asare Okyere Darko. Mr Arthur warns that if care is not taken, mudslinging and personal attacks will mar the campaign ahead of the party's congress to elect a presidential candidate on December 15.

"If somebody running for president has been engaged in criminal conduct, the nation has an interest in knowing that. But I think that we live in a system where there is rule of law, so a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty. I therefore dislike and I hope we all abstain from the politics of personal destruction and innuendos and I urge all aspirants if they have any evidence of wrong doing regarding anybody, to put it on the table or shut up.”

Arthur Kennedy said the apparent mudslinging is not a good beginning to the campaigns season and expressed the hope that it is only an aberration and therefore urged the party’s leadership to take strong measures to discourage anybody from waging any destructive campaign “because all what it will do is to give our opponents ammunition in the general election.”

He said the party’s leadership could formulate a guideline for the campaigns and clearly reprimand anyone who is unethical in his approach, including condemn culprits publicly.

Arthur Kennedy said the leaders ought to be scrupulously fair to all the candidates – from the President to the lowest office holder – and without strict evidence mere allegations of wrong doing against anybody should not be permitted from any of the camps, arguing that much as divergent opinions are desirable, personal attacks cannot be acceptable.