|
There
is only one legitimate way to Flagstaff House
A GNA feature by Nana Kodjo Jehu-Appiah
Accra, Aug. 14, Ghanadot/GNA - The battle lines are steadily being
drawn for the large army of political pundits whose
adrenaline level has been increased by allurements the red
carpet treatment the Ghanaian taxpayer would offer them if
they ever mounted the Presidential throne at the Flagstaff
House in Accra.
Ghanaian politicians are warming up for good things to come.
Whoever gets the nod to become the Head of State after the
2008 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, would be
making history by occupying the spacious Presidential Palace
being built by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the
Flagstaff House.
News about the huge capital being mobilised by the NPP and
the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for
Election 2008 showdown is mouth watering.
The NPP has slapped a whooping amount of 250 million cedis
as filing fee for the over 20 presidential aspirants of the
Party, while the NDC has been able to raise 700, 000 dollars
at a fundraising ceremony in the US.
Very soon the NPP, NDC, the Convention People's Party (CPP)
and other political parties would hit the roads with brand
new four-wheel drive vehicles draped in party colours and
fitted with public address systems to win the hearts and
minds of Ghanaians.
The purely constitutional process has given politicians the
dynamism, energy and innovation to explore the physical,
emotional, psychological and spiritual realms to package
their campaign messages.
The Ghana News Agency quoted Vice President Alhaji Aliu
Mahama, who is among the personalities vying for President
John Agyekum Kufuor's seat, as having said at Tamale: "It is
God who appoints leaders."
He said most often it was those people looked down upon, who
were ordained as leaders by the Supreme Being.
Vice President Mahama has since gone beyond the sermon to
convince voters why they should vote for him. He has been
quoted by the media as telling constituency executives of
NPP that he had served his political apprenticeship under
Presidential Kufuor for seven years and was now matured and
capable to take over the leadership mantle.
In Bolgatanga, where he was among a group of Northerners
honoured for bringing the North into the limelight, he
pushed his political ambition to a universal sphere, by
calling on voters to rise above religious and ethnic
considerations in the choice and selection of leaders.
It is very interesting to listen to the former Minister of
Defence, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor who is gripped by the novelty
ambition to succeed his elder brother.
While tongues are wagging why Dr Addo Kufuor should succeed
his brother, he has called for ceasefire based on the
argument that he was an individual who was qualified like
any other Ghanaian to be president.
He was quoted by an Accra daily that he would not be serving
his conscience and God if he failed to contest for the
presidential slot of the NPP.
Those whose job it is to spread the gospel have also been
caught in the political web. One Apostle Kwamina Ahinful has
already looked into the heavenly realms and through his
column in an Accra daily, ordained Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo as the next President of Ghana.
He warned former President Jerry John Rawlings in the same
column to undertake a period of dry fasting to brighten the
chances of his Party recapturing political power.
Apostle Schambach Amaniampong, Head of the Christian
Redemption International Ministry, also predicted the split
of the NPP if the numerous contestants for its presidential
slot failed to carry out their political campaigns with
circumspection and decorum.
The presidential slot for Election 2008 of the once buoyant
CPP has attracted a Pathologist, Professor Agyemang Badu
Akosah; Lawyer, Bright Akwetey; Economist, Dr Paa Kwesi
Ndoum and Entrepreneur, Dr Kwaku Osafo.
Though political underdogs, it would be interesting for the
CPP to capture power and occupy the new Presidential Palace
at the Flagstaff House from where the ideologue of the
Party, the first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah
operated as Head of State.
Election 2008 would offer interesting moments for Ghana.
Already the wild promises have resumed. The forerunners of
the election are promising to mend the economy, ensure job
security and turn the former Gold Coast into a paradise.
The NPP presidential aspirants are eagerly touring Ghana to
market themselves to Constituency delegates, while it is
money harvest time for the constituency executives, who have
nurtured the Party behind the scenes. The juicy tip after
every meeting fits into the national campaign for wealth
creation and poverty eradication.
For whatever reasons, Election 2008 must help to deepen good
governance and the democratic process.
It is not good for the citizenry to feed fat on politicians
without critically assessing them before voting for them.
The trappings of red carpet treatment should promote good
leadership and not bad governance often justified by
untenable excuses.
Ghanaians would soon be reading new sets of political
manifestoes often filled with flowery promises that most
often turn into demonic corruption and bad governance.
Getting a better leader for Ghana now is not negotiable and
may God bless our Homeland Ghana and make our Nation great
and strong; bold to defend forever the cause of freedom and
of right.
GNA
|
