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Why President Mahama is
still poles ahead of Akufo-Addo (Part I)
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Part I
Part
II
Folks, I am in my element to comment on something that has
piqued my interest for long. It is all about the manner in
which Akufo-Addo is (mis)handling the NPP and how President
Mahama is doing things at the NDC front to prepare minds on
voter sentiments and electoral decisions. I have noticed a
huge difference that must be factored into public discourse
on the calibre of leaders that our political parties should
strive for if they want to remain vibrant and viable long
after those leaders have left the scene. And why in our
time, the NDC front under President Mahama remains stable
and confident of victory at Election 2016, regardless of
much public discontent at prevailing economic conditions in
the country.
What we’ve seen thus far underscores the need for such an
issue to be explored. I have settled on Akufo-Addo and
President Mahama because they are the two horses gunning for
the voters’ mandate at Election 2016. The leaders of the
other political parties may simply be dismissed as busy-body
underdogs. I don’t even think they qualify as match-makers
because they have no constituency to influence voter
sentiments and electoral decisions. It is a straight fight
between the NDC (led by President Mahama) and the NPP (under
the influence of Akufo-Addo). Whatever those mushroom
parties have to offer will be split between the NDC and the
NPP. Don’t underestimate the influence of “inducements” in
Ghanaian politics.
So, why not raise some issues pertinent to the leadership
style of President Mahama and Akufo-Addo to spice public
discourse? Forget about anything personal at this stage
because when it comes to the “personal”, President Mahama
has more credit than Akufo-Addo can dream of. No need to
explain anything. Otherwise, go to the electorate to find
out why they rejected Akufo-Addo in the run-off at Election
2008 and why they gave President Mahama an outright victory
over him at Election 2012. Their bull crap of petition
hearing has even added more to his credibility problems that
will add to others to hurt him all the more at Election
2016. Does he ever learn any lesson from his own
self-created negative circumstances?
The differences between these two prominent citizens in
doing party and government business is clear, and we must
acknowledge them to help us take a good sneak peek into what
they portend for Ghana. The going is tough for President
Mahama, but he isn’t spent yet. He is still fighting hard
(the “Gonja warrior” that he is) to put things together for
Ghana’s good. I am confident that he will succeed because I
know him for what he is. Let the Doubting Thomases and those
undermining his integrity expend their energy and borrowed
resources to indulge in political mischief. It will amount
to nothing.
That is why I want to draw parallels between his attitude to
internal party issues and those of the NPP’s Akufo-Addo.
After all, it is the political party that provides the
platform for the flagbearer to test the pulse of the
electorate. And it is the political party that protects that
flagbearer after winning the elections. Thus, as soon as a
conflict emerges between the President and the party,
disaster looms for the President. He will be the eventual
loser if he doesn’t know how to play the cards.
The party is larger than him; and the party is made up of
people from different ethnic, cultural, educational, social,
economic, etc. backgrounds but bound together by a common
political and ideological ideal to see themselves as one
united family of people with common interests. Anything
threatening this bond is a sure recipe for disaster. It is
so for the NPP at this stage that a few like-minded people
have banded together to give a raw deal to officials elected
at the national delegates congress to administer the affairs
of the arty with the sole aim of returning it to power.
No matter how unbecoming the activities of the elected
officials could be, there should have been a better way to
handle the problem than what has been done so far—suspending
the National Chairman (Paul Afoko), the General Secretary (Kwabena
Agyepong), and the Second National Vice Chairman (Sammy
Crabbe)—and incurring the anger of their followers.
Shouldn’t an astute politician leading such a party have
found better ways to solve the problem than what we have
been given to see now?
And what has been done to these elected officials can’t pass
off without serious repercussions for the party, generally,
There will surely be an uprising in the NPP, which won’t
surprise me because the tool being used to suppress
dissension is anachronistic. It is better to do
fence-mending in a more civil and politically beneficial
manner than this suspension mantra. I foresee a lot of
trouble for this cabal. I wait to see the composition of
Akufo-Addo’s campaign team for Election 2016; then, we will
say more.
What happens next will not add value to Akufo-Addo’s kind of
politicking. Instead, it will detract from his worth and
push him toward the precipice. Folks, that is what we have
so far been aiming at. But we have more to do in pairing up
the NDC and NPP camps for Election 2016, especially in
seeing how the temperament and political stratagems of their
leaders will shape and shave the Fate of parties at the
Presidential and Parliamentary levels.
We begin with President Mahama whose leadership style
largely contrasts with that of Akufo-Addo who is at the
flanks crying himself hoarse for no good reason than wishing
to replace him to accomplish his childhood ambition of
becoming Ghana’s President “at all costs” before paying his
dues to Nature or just for the records. I have always said
that Akufo-Addo can’t claim to be any better administrator
than anybody with the responsibility to manage the affairs
of state.
A so-called successful private legal practitioner he may be,
but a successful politician he is not. His records as an MP
(for 12 years, representing the Abuakwa South constituency)
and a Minister of State (responsible for the
Attorney-General’s Department and Ministries of Justice and
Foreign Affairs) are known. Nothing to write home about.
Thus, in seeking the highest office of the land, he has set
himself up for scrutiny and juxtaposing against those who
defeated him at previous polls and will do so again. The
fault lies in him.
One might wonder why of all the aspirants, he is the one
coming across as really desperate and bulldozing his way
through the political terrain to the extent of tearing apart
his own political camp just to give him the blank cheque
that he needs to prosecute his agenda. He has already won a
Pyrrhic victory against those in the NPP whose voices he
should have listened to instead of spurning. But, of course,
a dog that is determined to get lost never listens to its
master’s whistle. And the master shouldn’t fret when it
faces its sad fate. That is the context. We move on, then.
Cont'd: Part II
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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to continue the conversation.
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