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The NPP's woes: A party
paralyzed by its own leaders
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Monday, November 2, 2015
Folks, I have said it several times—and will
continue to say it till I drop down dead—that the
NPP endangers Ghana’s democracy more than the NDC or
any other political front does. I will reiterate my
stance and back it up with facts that the “Mate Me
Ho” political culture is an anathema to Ghanaian
politics. Here is one political tradition that
doesn’t see anything good in others and insists on
having its way even when the reality of the
situation proves it wrong.
If you doubt my claim, just take a quick tour of
Ghana’s political landscape in the pre-independence
era and what followed till then. Lovers of
pre-independence Ghanaian politics know how the
reactionary forces in the United Gold Coast
Convention (UGCC) would band together to oppose the
progressive moves by the Great Osagyefo and his CPP
to make Ghana come into its own. The circumstances
that made Nkrumah triumph over them were the same
that made them lose grounds to the PNP and the
Rawlings Phenomenon. And will be the same till a
miracle happens to change the situation.
They should be thankful to the forces of reason in
the minority political parties that helped them
return to power in 2000 and to retain Kufuor over
the 8-year period that he presided over an NPP-led
administration. But that goodwill is all gone to the
winds, blown away by the political immaturity,
negative traits of personal character, and plain
unattractiveness on the part of rampaging political
bull (Akufo-Addo) who took over from Kufuor!!
More than anything else, the NPP is today a
political force that is engaged in a futile struggle
with itself more than with its nemesis, the NDC. And
much of what is negating its relevance is
self-grown. It is within the party and is the very
canker that is chewing it up and will cause its
doom. No need to expatiate except to say that the
internal wrangling now destabilizing the NPP is the
ultimate outcome of the irresistible tendency on the
part of those who think they matter more than all
others to call the shots.
And their shots aren’t power-winning shots but
self-destructive, ill-considered manouevres to boost
the personal ego precipitating political (mis)adventures
of the Akufo-Addos. Simply put, the NPP is at the
crossroads because that is where its Akufo-Addo
wants it to be.
Circumventing the crossroads isn’t easy, not because
there is no way to do so but because those leading
the party aren’t savvy enough to do so. That is why
they are insisting on anachronistic measures,
focusing on scare-mongering and beating the war drum
in the deceived expectation that Ghanaians will bow
to their pressure to do their bidding. False hopes
of this sort lead to nothing but political defeat.
And the defeated one constructs everything around
violence to seek revenge. It won't work.
And from the public utterances of the leading
figures misdirecting the NPP and mismanaging its
affairs, there is only one conclusion to draw: that
they will continue to run around in circles and lose
traction. From what has ensued so far, I am more
than convinced that the NPP’s recourse to
scare-mongering is its last kick in its electoral
death throes.
As the events at the just-ended national forum on
the voters register indicate, a decision to retain
the current register subject to thorough
cleansing/cleaning will put the final nail in its
coffin of self-destruction. The party’s insistence
on getting a new register—short of which there will
be violence in Ghana—and its leaders’ outreach to
the international community on that score won’t turn
anybody’s crank.
It has no campaign message for the electorate to win
their support. Its only trump-card is beating the
war drum, which will doom it all the more. By
beating the war drum, they have unwittingly played
themselves into the hands of the NDC that will
propagate a message of peace, national security and
stability to win the hearts of voters. Who wants war
when every opportunity exists to continue enjoying
peace in the country?
Within this context, isn’t it fair and proper to say
that the NPP people have paralyzed themselves?
Folks, I am putting together my thoughts for a more
comprehensive analysis of the situation to suggest
that the NPP’s woes will worsen. Already, we can
tell from what has unfolded so far that it is
spreading itself too thin and risking slipping into
the quicksand in front of it.
And much of that quicksand is constituted by lackeys
in the mass media who go abroad with anything coming
from the NPP to create the misguided impression that
the party is on track. It is clear from the
vociferous iterations by Kweku Baako and all others
singing the cacophonous tune of Akufo-Addo that the
NPP people are deceived that capturing the media
scene means making a headway in public outreach
toward a successful Election 2016.
It is not, apparently because the public already
know what they need to know about the NPP and its
Akufo-Addo. Thus, the more the media lackeys talk or
write, the more they open up Akufo-Addo to scrutiny
and political surgery. And his fat underbelly is
already out there to be poked, jabbed, and opened up
for the effluent. What more can these people do to
endanger themselves?
We now know why the NPP leaders’ appetite for
political power exceeds their capacity to hold their
party together for Election 2016. Such a sickening
appetite destroys; it won’t build anything for
Mother Ghana.
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor
to continue the conversation.
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