I have been a victim of misjudgement, misperception and misrepresentation mainly by people who hardly knew me. Many later end up confessing when they get closer to me saying things like: “I thought you were like…” or “I didn’t know you are so …”
Up until sometime in 2022, I served as a member of the Ministerial Advisory Board of Napo and all three ministers of energy who preceded him, starting from Hon. Buah under the Mahama regime.
I have recently come across many commentaries about Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, aka Napo, being arrogant.
I am in no position to judge others and their experiences with Napo but I can only speak of mine. Working with Napo was demanding. He took nothing on the face of it and will interrogate everything. Your being an expert at anything never cowed him. You simply had to make sense and that made two of us. Spurred by his broad and deep reading in pursuit of authority on any subject matter he is responsible for, he nurtures strong opinions but welcomes any debate to assure himself of an optimal opinion.
Many people struggle with the aggressiveness of his opinions and even more the swift and broad scope of knowledge he displays and interrogates. Some find it intimidating but for me I found it a different approach to etch out positions passionately. Every time I engaged in a debate with Napo, it may, for the uninitiated, seem unsettling, but for us, it was a passionate pursuit of an optimal position. He may aggressively debate and sometimes forget we aren’t on the floor of parliament, but he surely revises his positions and opinions when superior knowledge and arguments were advanced. He never hesitated to admit it when he realised, I may be right.
Many a time I witnessed him criticise his own self and admit he may have gotten a thing or two wrong.
In summary, Napo is different, passionate about his opinions and may seem intimidating in his debating style. But for me, I DO NOT KNOW HIM AS ARROGANT.
There is no doubt that there is a thin line between Confidence and Hubris, but that thinness may blur your judgement of what is or may be.
NB: THIS IS SIMPLY A FAIR RECALL OF MY EXPERIENCE ON THE SUBJECT-MATTER AND NOT A POLITICAL ENDORSEMENT FOR OR AGAINST HIS CANDIDACY OR ANY OTHER CANDIDATE IN THE 2024 ELECTIONS.
