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Nobody will force these NPP people
to tell the truth
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Friday, December 18, 2015
Folks, no one can fight the truth and hope to succeed. Like
the cork submerged in water, the truth will rise to the
surface to stun the one submerging it.
We know that the NPP and NDC have never seen eye-to-eye on
issues regarding the handling of national affairs, not to
talk about what happens at the lower levels. Wherever the
NPP goes, the NDC avoids or seeks to encroach on with a
counter-balancing presence; wherever the NDC goes, the NPP
runs away from or contemns if it cannot outdo.
In our contemporary Ghanaian situation both the NPP and the
NDC come across as two sides of one coin, each representing
whatever it is and hoping to sway Ghanaians to see and
accept it as the be-it-all-and-end-it-all for the Ghanaian
case of under-development and exercises in democracy.
Since the inception of the 4th Republic, much blood has been
lost in this useless fight for prominence. Nothing done by
the NDC pleases the NPP and vice versa. It is all a matter
of fault-finding; no praise anywhere.
It all began in the hustings at the end of the Rawlings era
when Kufuor led the NPP pack to condemn Rawlings as doing
nothing to improve living conditions despite his "asphalt
projects", beginning from Kumasi (at the insistence of his
wife, Nana Konadu). Thus, for Election 2000, the NPP's
slogan was framed around the idea that if the people cannot
get food to eat, they will have no value for asphalt roads.
That was why the slogan ("Whie wo asetenam mo na tu aba pa")
emerged. But even then, Kufuor had to depend on the support
of the mushroom parties to sail through.
In power, Kufuor did his best, given the circumstances
within which he operated. Ever since he left the scene,
nothing has worked well for the NPP. Why so? It is not his
making but that of those who think that they are bigger than
the NPP. And they have given President Mahama the edge. Can
they devalue that edge? No!!
Under President Mahama, the NPP has gone the full distance
to condemn everything coming from the official stables. Be
it the management of the economy, just anything, the NPP
hasn't seen anything good coming from President Mahama. And
that cloudy mindset has guided everything thereby.
It is, therefore, strange to see something to the contrary.
The NPP's Minority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah
Bonsu, is saying that enough evidence exists to show that
the Mahama-led administration has chalked successes in
nation-building that should be acknowledged and praised as
such. (See
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Mahama-has-worked-but-he-s-cheated-Ghanaians-401724).
Is this the crucial moment of epiphany that the NPP people
need to help them refine their politics so they can connect
better with Ghanaians and polish their political machinery
for Election 2016?
Certainly, it is absurd to paint the government black with a
wide brush and refuse to acknowledge its positive
accomplishments despite the challenges facing it. Only the
truth can set one free. Any talk of corruption is misplaced
because corruption in Ghana is endemic, not restricted to
government circles alone.
The truth may hurt but it can also heal and salve
conscience(s). Thanks, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, for this
acknowledgement to set the parameters for politicking by the
NPP under Akufo-Addo. Wherein, then, lies the unpopular tag
of "incompetence" for President Mahama, especially when
these projects are solving pertinent existential problems of
the people?
Rome was not built in one day; and only politically
mischievous characters will expect President Mahama to solve
Ghana's "accumulated problems" in one day. Of course, the
good news is that the wool is quickly falling off from the
eyes of the malicious critics for them to see things
clearly. Only then will they know that their own dwindling
political fortunes aren't the making of political opponents
but themselves---for failing to to accept reality. And more
of that reality awaits them. Accepting it should help them
re-engineer themselves for a better cause.
The train is fast leaving them behind. Unfortunately for
them, the light that they see at the end of the tunnel is
that of a speeding train reaching them and aimed to destroy
them. Will they be smart enough to avoid being crushed? Over
to them!!
As Jesus put it, only the truth saves. And translated into
our Ghanaian political situation, that truth is that
President Mahama is leading his administration to do its
best, given the circumstances in which it has found itself.
It cannot do otherwise, short of over-speeding and perishing
in flight.
Those condemning it at will for political expediency don't
know what is at stake and should hasten slowly, biding their
time with good politicking to win the hearts of the
electorate and try their luck. It is not as easy as they may
imagine, though.
Politics is not a do-or-die affair but a matter of judicious
use of opportunities to remain in reckoning. It takes the
politically astute to survive. Those on the periphery making
ugly noise in condemnation should wonder why it is not they
who are in power but those they wish dead that are preferred
by the electorate.
It is a game to be played by its own rules, not by personal
wishes, regrets, expectations, or wishful thinking by those
defeated at the polls.
And once those in power use the resources of the country to
give the citizens what they can use, they will be favoured.
That's the thrust of Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu's message, which
I hope his own NPP people have heard and will be conditioned
to adjust to. And for their own good, they had better do so.
Continuously condemning President Mahama as the cause of
woes in Ghana won't fetch any political capital for the NPP.
It is politically weird. What the NPP can do better is the
message that the electorate are yearning to hear from
Akufo-Addo, even if they still continue to doubt his
integrity. At least, they know what prevented him from
winning Elections 2008 and 2012. What more?
The challenge that Osei Mensah Kyei Bonsu poses here is that
Akufo-Addo should come out with measures that he will
implement to outdo the incumbent Mahama-led administration.
Not until he does so, nothing from him will "touch base"
with the voters; and he can go to blazes in consequence.
Finally, we may stick our necks out to say that Akufo-Addo
should be asking himself what value he has added to the NPP
ever since being chosen as its flagbearer. Nothing but
division and useless militancy. If we turn to happenings
involving the NPP under Akufo-Addo, we will quickly conclude
that he is more of a liability than an asset. The police
have already moved to deal with some elements of the
"Invisible Forces" that he has established in the NPP to
fight his cause against internal voices. Woebetide him.
Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu is sounding a clarion call to his own
NPP fraternity to shape up or be shipped out of Ghanaian
politics for long. Who will listen to him?
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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to continue the conversation.
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