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What about the NPP makes it
attractive? (Part I)
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Go to Part II
Once again, we have
heard something to the effect that certain personalities are
doing politics against the NDC/government, using the auspices of
their institutions. They have been accused of hiding behind the
smokescreen that they have turned their institutions into and
are provoking public panic or anger against the government.
Dr. David Percy (a member of the National Reform Party and a
board member of the National Service Scheme) has condemned the
National Peace Council (NPC), the Institute for Democratic
Governance (IDEG), and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) as
“fronts for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).”
Speaking on Radio Gold on Monday morning, Dr. Percy said that
last Friday’s national summit on Peace, Justice and Reforms, an
initiative of the NPC, the Manhyia Palace, the Civic Forum
Initiative (CFI) and the IDEG, was to further the agenda of the
NPP. He said it would be reckless and dangerous to lull the
people into thinking that those institutions were disinterested
parties in the on-going election petition case. (See
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=280250).
These are serious allegations; but I am not really surprised at
them because they are not new to me, having heard about them for
some time now. What amazes me is the inability of people like
Dr. Percy to fathom why such institutions and their elements
will choose to promote the NPP’s cause and work against the
interests of the NDC and its government. This issue has nagged
me over the years, and now that Dr. Percy’s allegations point to
them, they need to be unpacked. The moment is ripe for it.
Similar allegations have been made over the years and fingers
pointed at some in the mass media, the clergy, civil society
organizations, chiefs, workers’ and traders’ leaders, and many
more as lackeys of the NPP bent on sabotaging the NDC. Others
identified as “irritants” because of their persistent criticisms
(e.g., Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI) have also had their share of
the tongue-lashing. Many more are not spared either. As surely
as night follows the day, such allegations continue to be made.
So far, I haven’t heard anything from those making the
allegations as to why their targets have chosen to be in bed
with the NPP and not the NDC. This silence prompts two main
questions:
What about the NPP makes it more attractive than the NDC? Why
will anybody choose to gravitate toward the NPP and not the NDC?
Answers to these fundamental questions should clarify the matter
and help us know how to contextualize Dr. Percy’s claims for
proper analysis. These allegations grate on the ears, especially
when none of those being accused has been bold enough to confirm
the allegations nor have those making the allegations adduced
any evidence apart from the assessment of public postures and
utterances to justify their claims. We can hazard a few guesses
to set minds at ease.
Ideologically, the NPP is a conservative political entity built
on the Danquah/Busia (and Dombo?) aspiration of “liberal
democracy” and property-grabbing. Its adherents make no secret
of their penchant for self-acquisition. Their manifesto may be
silent on it but their real and practical acts of commission and
omission speak volumes to substantiate that impression about
them.
One couldn’t have failed to see its concrete manifestation in
the 8-year rule of Kufuor. Indeed, having itched in the
political wilderness for 30 years before grabbing political
power, Kufuor used every opportunity to confirm the
property-owning mantra. The floodgates were thrown open, causing
a mad rush for property and self-aggrandizement. Let’s take, for
instance, Kufuor’s own junketing all over the world and the
unrestrained dash by his government functionaries (not to
mention the high-ranking NPP leaders’) for property.
Then, turn round to review the list of appointees that Kufuor
placed in charge of government business and you should know why
the NPP is what it is. For one thing, the NPP leaders know how
to handle those who do their “dirty” political work for them.
They compensate them fairly and use them to the full. Be they
journalists, teachers, traders, drivers, or what-not, they are
not sidelined if engaged to do the party’s bidding.
Unfortunately, the NDC is otherwise. Let me just cite one
example to substantiate my stance. We easily recall the street
demonstrations by the NDC’s foot-soldiers and the reasons that
they adduced to support their grievances in the first few months
of the late President Mills’ administration. They took the law
into their own hands, evicting government appointees from
offices and forcefully taking over public toilets to manage?
Their reason? The government wasn’t fulfilling its promise on
job creation for them despite the hard work that they had done
to put Mills in power. They claimed that they were not
compensated and couldn’t look on without doing anything to draw
attention to their plight. Of course, they were roundly
condemned by the government and some measures taken to rein them
in. Apparently, the security forces were unleashed on them to
silence them. Their grievances have still not been met; and we
can’t rule out any resurgence of their agitations.
Certain reasons continue to be raised by critics of the
government to justify why the NDC doesn’t seem to be the
preferred home for those now being accused of hiding behind the
pulpit, the Bar, and civil society groupings to do politics in
favour of the NPP.
1. Economic power
The Ghanaian economy (especially the private sector) is largely
controlled by those who are either sympathetic to or aligned
with the NPP. If you doubt it, just do a quick assessment of the
industries and big-time business enterprises all over the
country and you shouldn’t be left wondering why I have made this
huge claim that the economy is in the hands of those opposed to
the NDC/government.
Of course, their tap roots run deep, spreading centrifugally
from the foundation laid by their benefactors in the Gold Coast
era who established industries and companies or who simply took
advantage of the prevailing favourable environment to break
through as successful business people. And what they established
has thrived over the years despite the vicissitudes of the
Ghanaian political and economic systems, especially the
tumultuous June 4 and December 31 revolutionary excesses. Do you
wonder why they keep on accusing Rawlings of being anti-rich and
consequently extending their bitter sentiments to the political
family spawned by him?
2. Political power
It is often said that the NDC knows how to mobilize support to
help it achieve political power; but the truth is that it
doesn’t really exercise that political power properly to break
through and accomplish the agenda that will reinforce its base
and translate that power into an economic asset. Apparently, the
NDC’s investment in the struggle for raw political power seems
to be regarded as an end in itself, which is why even when voted
into office, its government cannot function effectively to
undercut those forces using their economic power to undermine
it.
Indeed, there is much talk that when the NPP is in power, money
“flows” in the country and that even if the cost of living
remains high, people can do business and get their money’s
worth. On the other hand, when the NDC takes over, the situation
reverses—the money no longer circulates and business grind to a
painful halt, apparently because of the government’s inability
to manage affairs effectively.
This is a terrible indictment, which, apart from other factors,
is often at the heart of opposition to the NDC. The problems
that have emerged (increasing tax rates on foreign goods and
cars, especially at the Tema and Takoradi harbours; the shortage
of Dollars; the sporadic Dollar-Ghana Cedi exchange rates; high
foreign debt; increases in prices of petroleum products and
utility services; corruption at SADA and GYEEDA; and many more)
are pointed to as evidence of the NDC government’s failure to
manage the economy properly. This situation gives vent to
criticism by opponents of the government, which gives them some
political leverage.
We are, however, not recommending the NPP’s manner of
politicking to the NDC because that “book politics” won’t move
Ghana out of the woods. It is sterile and self-serving; but it
also opens new windows through which the NDC leaders can view
politics more broadly to be able to fashion out their own
particular approaches to put the party poles ahead of the pack.
That is the only reason for citing the NPP’s record.
3. Governance style
There is also much talk about the governance style of the NDC,
beginning with Rawlings and touching on Mills to the incumbent
(John Mahama) that negatively affects the NDC’s standing. Of
course, the Rawlings style has its peculiarities and
implications (granted that the soldier in Rawlings couldn’t be
tamed and turned away from the characteristic “buga-buga”
approach toward command-and-control). But Rawlings’s brusque
approach and peremptory governance style has its positive
aspects even if abused.
The late Atta Mills’ laid-back approach to governance struck
most people as “strange” but he left his mark on the scene for
which he is being remembered today. President Mahama’s own
governance style has its ups-and-downs. Criticism of his style
is rife, especially given the worsening economic situation in
the country.
The reality is that the government appears not to use the
political power at its disposal to endear itself and the NDC to
the hearts of others than the die-hard party supporters. To
change the situation, the party/government will have to make
amends. What it has done so far isn’t fetching any political
capital. The so-called transformation that is touted as “Social
Democracy” isn’t giving the government anything new nor has it
yet been implemented to make the rebranding of the NDC
meaningful. The same old wine in its old wine bottle but with a
different label won’t entice anybody to the party’s cause.
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor
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