The NPP campaign for flagebearership is in full swing with all the serious contenders now officially on the road especially the two key contenders, Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyeremanteng.
For me I supported Nana Addo in 2007 and I have tried to look for a reason not to do same this time around, fortunately or unfortunately, I have found none. I believe fully within me probably more than ever that Nana Akufo-Addo is the best man among all the other aspirants in the New patriotic Party to lead the Party to victory in 2012. Indeed, I am of the belief that Nana Addo is the best among all the other prospecting candidates in this country to lead Ghana and I have no doubt about this belief.
In the run-up to the race, a lot of issues have been raced for and against Nana Addo candidature not only due to the fact that he led the Party in the 2008 General Elections but also because he is till date the obvious frontrunner in the race and the most popular candidate. I admit that all sides have attempted to skew the debates unto issues they think would either help Nana’s bid or harm it. For me this has even gone further to boost Nana’ s popularity, just because the competing candidates have failed to really raise issues and send a message which proves clearly that Nana Addo is not the best man to lead our Party.
I think that the opposition to Nana’s bid especially that coming from Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng’s camp has mainly focused on trivialities and attempted to demean Nana’s personality rather than telling the broad masses of the NPP, the basis for the belief in their camp (s) that Alan or any other candidate is more right and fit to lead the Party than Nana Addo.
To begin with , one issue which has somewhat dominated the debate is this issue of floating voters. Many within the other camps have boosted that their candidates would win more floating voters than Nana did in 2008 and than Nana can do in 2012. These statements are made constantly without any basis or proof and for me are made on the basis of mere imagination, hearsays and fantasies. I have on more than one occasion challenged friends of mine who are of the opinion that Alan in particular can win more floating voters to proof to me the basis of their view and they have on all occasions failed to provide any coherent basis of this view as they profess.
But this issue of ability to win floating voters is not peculiar to Ghana or indeed this NPP race, it occurs all over when it is time for the primaries. In the US, almost all candidates in the primary season mysteriously lay claim to having an ability to win independents. They all profess this ability and find all sorts of excuses to back their arguments. So its new. But for me the issue boils down to the Party primaries. If you are truly popular with the masses or the generality of the population, then you should be able to win your party’s primaries because the delegates in your party form a microcosm of the society in general and certainly they are as wiser as the general populace. It should not be forgotten that the main preoccupation for the generality of the delegates is who can lead their Party to victory in the general elections. So if you are truly popular and your personality appeals then that is where you must first prove it – your Party’s Primaries! For me this is where the argument should stop. Thankfully in the NPP, we now have over 110,000 as the electorate for our flagbearership, that in itself is a big enough sample of the population and oh, there are definitely floating voters among our delegates too.
The issue of floating voters is a very dicey one. Everyone admits that there are floating voters but as I speak I have not come across any scientific research which tells me that Nana Addo is less likely to win floating voters because of his person than say Alan. Yet people keep purporting this belief that Nana cannot win floating voters. Sometimes I get the belief that many of our politicians are still of the belief that the Ghanaian electorate are not discerning and are so gullible. This is because you sometimes hear the explanation that Alan or some other candidates would win more floating voters because Alan is tall, he is handsome, he is fair etc. etc.
I do not doubt that fringes of the Ghanaian electorate vote because of trivialities like looks but the question is of what percentage do such electorates form? In my view, such electorate as I described are at best on the fringes, they have no major significance in our elections; maybe they were more significant in 1992 or even 1996 but I fail to imagine how anyone can prove to me that with the political maturity this country has attained in its 18 years of unbridled multi- party democracy, we can find any significant group who vote just on the basis of a candidates looks or his height etc.
In any case if this is the standard for electing flagbearers then as a advocate for simplicity in all activities, what I think should be done is not to waste precious sums conducting elections for an electorate of over 115,000; all we should do is to hire maybe Charterhouse to organize a beauty contest for all the aspirants with a minimum height requirement so that the short ones would be disqualified and the winner of the contest becomes the flagbearer. We could have the aspirants coming out in swim suits, in kente and suits to judge which one looks best in all those attires etc. This process would save cost and simplify the whole contest for all of us.
This is how absurd for the argument on looks sound. I do know that an overwhelming proportion of Ghanaians decide on who to vote for on much more serious issues than looks or whatever and for me any candidate who attempts to focus on looks and such trivialities either has no serious message to sell his candidature or is someone who just does not understand the intricacies of modern day politics and the maturity of the Ghanaian voter.
Secondly, I hear most often from many that because Nana Akufo-Addo could not win the 2008 elections, he should be changed because it was his fault we lost. Others go ahead to claim that we lost the second round by the around 25,000 votes because of Nana’s personality. Well I see it very differently and I am entitled to see it that way.
In my view and considering the circumstances that surrounded the Party’s campaign in 2008, I think that Nana did exceptionally well and tremendously so to even be able to win the first round and to lose the run-off by such a margin though I would also admit that every defeat even by a single vote is a defeat. What circumstances am I talking about? Well, to begin with, it is world knowledge that every govering Party in a mainly two party democracy finds it difficult winning a third term or passing the presidency from one president to another within the same party. This is not even a point I wish to concentrate on; the first point I like to emphasize is the fact that in 2008, the New Patriotic Party through a combination of factors was thrown into disarray all over the country thanks to activities of the various Constituency, Regional and especially National executives as well as other stakeholders like MPs and other big palyers.
As a result of the mismanagement of especially the Primary process of electing candidates for the 230 parliamentary seats by the groups just named, the Party ended up alienating substantial parts of its own core supporters across the country and across very key constituencies. The confusion which beset the grassroots due largely to the primaries did a lot to either keep sympathizers away from voting or even casting votes for other Parties and such votes would have been lost whether Nana Addo was candidate or not.
Let’s continue. In 2008, we lost throughout the coast from Shama to Keta. Now it should be recognized that the fisherfolk of our country are a huge segment of the type many would call swing voters who have not stuck with a Particular party at least in our fourth republic but vote year on year based on the improvements or otherwise in their livelihoods as well as other factors. Prior to 2008, warning bells were sounded constantly on how their trades and livelihoods were diminishing as a result of the activities of pair trawlers and also due to the mismanagement of Pre mix fuel distribution. By some strange occurrence their concerns were overlooked or at best lip service was paid to them and the fisher folk rightfully punished the NPP when they had the opportunity to do so. Here again, I want anyone to show me how Nana Addo’s personality if different could have prevented the backlash from the activities of Pair trawlers and the mismanagement of pre mix fuel distribution. I want to know how Alan or any other candidate would have won us more votes from the coast if they were the candidates.
Yet as a result of what happened in the fishing sector, we ended up antagonizing a major part of the electorate like the fishing community which had in 2000 and 2004 backed our tickets heavily and which had aided us significantly in our victories of those years. Now someone should calculate the population of fisherfolk in our country and tell me that we could not have won the first round if we had even picked half of the constituencies on the coast. We shot ourselves down and we were repaid!
Another group worth considering is the informal sector; the commercial vehicle drivers and the hawkers especially. For over a year and a half in this country we had trotro drivers and taxi drivers agitating over the maltreatment and harassment they were receiving at the hands of the Police and the motor courts and yet I do not know of any attempt that was made to redress their concerns or even to investigate them. And yet this was a group that moved through heaven and hell not only to vote for us in 2000 but to do everything to ensure that we won. We did not reassure them that their concerns were important or that we were doing anything to solve them until after the first round when in our desperation we did everything to try to win their votes. By this time it was too late and their minds were already made; they nailed us in the coffin on December 28th and sent us packing. Here again, how would Nana Addo personality impact on the alienation of the informal sector?
It would be remembered that in 2000, bread sellers at Nsawam and other places out of their own volition branded breads with the images of our candidate then and were seen shouting on top of their voices, ‘asieho’ and other slogans we used in 2000; the question is did this happen in 2008 and why? Food for thought!
Last, was our inability to ensure that our ballots were cast and protected. The incidents of fraud and intimidation against the NPP are numerous and in some instances very shocking. It is very amazing how we forgot to undertake such a core responsibility at the Polling Station level because that is where elections are won and lost.
Just these three groups and how they felt as at December 2008 should have gone a long way to even lead us to a first round defeat looking at the numbers which they present. Yet despite the division within our ranks, the alienation of our support base, the alienation of key groups like the fishing community and the informal sector and the failure to protect our ballots, Nana Akufo-Addo in his first attempt managed to secure over 100,000 votes more than candidate Mills who was on the ballot paper for the fourth time running in the first round.
Then comes the third and almighty issue of age. Indeed let me confess that I knew long before the race got hot that this issue would become a key issue against Nana’s candidacy. Indeed I do not blame those attempting to use the age argument; once they think it goes into their advantage, they have all the right to do so. Also I would confess again that with equal competence, I would prefer a young leader to an older one. It should also be made known that the issue of age is perhaps one of the first things that come up in a campaign is the issue of age. It happens everywhere and comes up everytime so its not new and those on Nana’s side should not make a fetish out of it on why other camps are using it.
But hey for me the age issue is not one to be preoccupied with; it is only a small issue; it is just one of those things. After all, if a 90 year old man knows how to transform the indigenous Private sector to becoming world beaters and continental or global leaders while a 40 year old man has no idea of how to this, I would prefer the 90 year old man and would work to support him. I would stick to a 90 year old man who has ideas about how to transform agriculture in my country from the situation where though we have over 50% of our population engaged in it, we still cannot be self-sufficient to a situation where we can have only 10% involved in agriculture but can be self sufficient; this for me would liberate the energies of millions of our people to be engaged in other productive ventures by adapting technology and I would prefer that 90 year old man to a 40 year old who does not seem to have any ideas about how to achieve this. If a 90 year old man has character and is a proven performer and achiever, I would stick with him than a 40 year old who has a questionable character and is not known to be of much competence.
I would on any day stick to a 90 year old man who has a history of activism; someone who is known to have made his voice heard when the ordinary Ghanaian was in the doldrums of dictatorship and abuse and I would prefer this 90 year old man to a 40 year old who has not demonstrated commitment to the defense of the rights of the ordinary Ghanaian and who is nowhere to be found when the going gets tough.
I prefer a 90 year old who knows how to raise the standing of Ghana among the comity of nations. Had the idea of an African permanent member of the Security council been mooted in the 60’s, Ghana would have been most likely the probable choice, 40/50years down the line, Ghana could hardly stake a claim to this role when the idea came up early this century while countries like Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt were claiming it so seriously. Ex-President Kufuor if my memory serves me right, attended four consecutive G8 meetings, it does not seem Mills would be at any of them anytime soon. Why? Because we have a president who seems oblivious to the need of building an high international image of one’s country and the benefits that come with it, that is probably why he does not feel it so important to even attend AU summits. So obviously, I would prefer a 90 year old man who is aware of the challenge to uplift the image and standing of Ghana in the international community and who has a proven ability in that area.
And oh, if my Party is in opposition, then I would prefer a 90 year old man who is clearly popular and can bring my party into government; I would not stick to a 40 year old man who claims to be popular but who has no proof to that popularity and cannot even win my Party’s primaries.
So yes, age is a factor but it comes very very down the ladder. What matters most are competence, vision and character. These are the real issues to debate on and for me candidates who concentrate on issues like age have nothing much to base their candidatures on and that explains why they would concentrate on age instead of singing about their competence, vision and character.
When I put up such arguments, I hear people saying that because am young, I should support a young candidate because I can ‘identify’ with a young President. But I retort that of what essence is identifying with a President if that President cannot solve your problems or the problems of your country in general? What essence is that? Who eats identification? Indeed if that is the argument then very soon we would have presidential aspirants basing their campaigns on the football teams they support so that they would identify with supporters of that team and for them to gain support of such supporters. We would very soon be hearing radio and viewing Television adverts which tell us that candidate A supports Arsenal or that candidate B support Kotoko in order for people like myself to identify with them.
In any case as a young man in his 20s, I would find it as hard to identify with a 50 year old President as I would find with a President in his 60s. We are generations apart and that goes for both the 50 year old and 60 year old President.
This even brings me to an issue which bothers me and confuses me a lot. Who can be called a youth? Ghana is indeed a very strange place to be in. all of a sudden and for political expediency, people are expanding the frontiers of the definition of a ‘youth’. It is not uncommon these days to hear people claiming that some aspirants in the NPP race are youth. Ei, but from what I know, all the aspirants are over 50 years. How can a 50 year old be called a youth? As my friend Eugene Boakye Danquah says, a 50 year old if in the civil service would just be 10 year shy of retiring. Would that be a youth? Please sometimes lets cut down on such pranks!
For me Nana Addo is till date our best option to recapturing power and till I am convinced by any coherent and cogent analysis which points to the contrary, this shall be my view!
Thanks!
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