…After showing him where power lies

After showing Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten where power lies ahead of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) congress, Nana Akufo-Addo now pretends he is the biggest fan of the former Trade Minister under the Kufuor regime, and offers him a seat on his right hand side in his kingdom. The NPP flagbearer used all manner of intimidating tactics and underhand dealings to clinch a landslide victory over his main contender in the just-ended flagbearership contest of the opposition party.

This political gimmick by the third-time NPP flagbearer came to the fore yesterday when Alan visited his Nima home, under enormous pressure from some party persons, to congratulate him on his victory.

Alan’s supporters went through hell in the hands of Akufo-Addo supporters in the run up to last Saturday’s congress. They were cowed to submission by various means of intimidation, as they lived in constant fear of being pounced on anytime by Akufo-Addo’s campaign hounds, without any form of protection from the NPP headquarters in Accra where the Chairman, Mr Paul Afoko and General Secretary Kwabena Agyapong themselves were reduced to toothless bulldogs from the Akufo-Addo threat.

Characteristic of the third-time NPP flagbearer, he now wants Alan and his supporters to ignore the pain that he and his followers have inflicted on them. He desperately needs Alan’s help to win power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

Many a political pundit in Ghana in general and from the NPP in particular have described Nana Akufo-Addo as a hotheaded and untrustworthy politician whose style of politics cannot be divulged from violence and insecurity to the people of Ghana.

This is one of such reported comments by The Chronicle newspaper on Friday December 7, 2007: “Mr Michael Ampong, campaign coordinator for Alan Kyeremanten says Ghana will be plunged into chaos should the New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates consider Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the flagbearership slot and eventually elected president. According to him, the former Foreign Affairs Minister is arrogant, temperamental and hot-headed for the number one job of the land, the Presidency, and therefore, it will be suicidal for the NPP to parade him as its presidential candidate.”
Mr Kofi Coomson, an NPP stalwart and publisher of The Chronicle, who has been a close ally of Nana Akufo-Addo spanning several decades is also on record to have said that he could not sleep with his two eyes closed with Nana Akufo-Addo as the President of Ghana because “it’s not safe.”
Despite these negative attributes of Nana Akufo-Addo, which were reinforced by the all-die-be-die’ electoral philosophy he devised before the 2012 election that has become an albatross around the neck of the NPP, the party’s delegates last Saturday decided to reject Mr Alan Kyeremanten yet again at the polls to elect him its 2016 flagbearer.

The NPP flagbearer in his ‘all-die-be-die’ philosophy expresses total belief in electoral violence as the sure way to clinch victory in Ghana’s democratic elections in order to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming the President of Ghana.

This is the third time the ‘Ashanti Cabal’ candidate has been rejected by the party’s delegates for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the ‘Akyem Mafia’s strongman. The previous occasions were in 2007, when the Kufuor-led NPP government was in power, and in 2010 under the Atta Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) when the NPP lost the general elections with Akufo-Addo as flagbearer.

In the lead up to Saturday’s congress, Alan and his supporters came under siege from Akufo-Addo’s campaign hounds, who used every means possible to intimidate their opponents in the internal party contest. Many Alan supporters were physically attacked and severely beaten by the Akufo-Addo hit squad for remaining loyal to Mr Kyeremanten in what was supposed to be an internal party democratic contest.
As late as Tuesday 14th October 2014, citifmonline.com had this report on the sordid development ahead of the 18th October congress. “A Press Secretary to New Patriotic Party Flagbearer hopeful Alan Kyeremanten, Chief Obosu, has described the alleged attack on a member of Alan’s campaign team as unfortunate.

“Some supporters of NPP flagbearer hopeful Nana Akufo-Addo, beat up a member of the campaign team of Alan at the studios of Adars FM in Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo region on Saturday.

“The victim, Nana Adu, who is a Communication Director of Alan Kyeremanteng in the area, is said to have reportedly gone against the party’s rules and thrown his weight behind Mr. Kyeremanten. He was attacked by known supporters of Nana Addo when he appeared as a panel member on a news review programme on Adars FM in the region to speak for his candidate.”

This was not the first time Mr Kyeremanten and his supporters have been shown where power lies by Akufo-Addo and his militants.

It is also on record that on 31st August 2014, the day of the special delegates’ congress to prune down the number of flagbearership contenders from seven to five, an aide to Mr. Paul Afoko was severely assaulted by some Akufo-Addo militants who left him with a completely fractured humerus (the bone between the shoulder and the elbow of his left arm).
These were not the first evidences of the Akufo-Addo aggression against Alan Kyeremanten in the just-ended NPP flagbearership contest.

Alan supporters were on two major occasions beaten up by Akufo-Addo’s militants at the party’s headquarters in Accra. One K. K., an Alan supporter and communications team member of the NPP in the Brong Ahafo region was beaten to pulp during a NEC meeting at the NPP headquarters. He narrated that the attacks began when Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia arrived with the thugs.

On the second occasion, Chairman Paul Afoko and General Secretary Kwabena Agyapong had to truncate a press conference and run for their lives when what is known as the ‘invisible militants’ arrived at the NPP headquarters at Adabraka in Accra.

Mr. Kwabena Agyapong had had to reportedly escape in a car booth from the party headquarters where the two were addressing a press conference before the bloodletting thugs arrived. On both occasions, the marauding thugs were heard threatening to kill anybody who dared to stand in the way of Nana Akufo-Addo’s presidential ambition this time around and that included their own party members.
It would be remembered that Mr Kyeremanten resigned briefly from the NPP after the 2007 congress at Legon, citing assaults on his supporters by Nana Akufo-Addo’s supporters as his reason.

It was at the Legon congress where the Akufo-Addo camp through Gabby Asare Otchere Darko and then national organizer, Lord Commey, orchestrated a violent attack on the Alan camp.

Mr Paul Afoko was accused of sharing 100 dollar bills to the delegates on behalf of Alan and was severely beaten up by the Akufo-Addo militants.
Yesterday’s gesture from Nana Akufo-Addo to Mr Kyeremanten is not new. The two previous occasions also witnessed similar gestures.
In what the Alan camp described as blackmail, the Akufo-Addo camp had tried pressurizing Mr Kyeremanten to withdraw from the October 18th race, like he did at the Legon congress in 2007 race but the latter refused. This infuriated Akufo-Addo’s supporters who intensified their attacks on his supporters.
Akufo-Addo’s opponents within the NPP hold the strong view that the twice-failed NPP flagbearer lacks popularity among floating voters and this has been responsible for his two consecutive losses, first to Candidate Prof. John Evans Atta Mills in 2008 and then to ‘Caretaker President’ John Dramani Mahama, who had had to campaign for only three months as NDC’s 2012 flagbearer following the sudden death of his boss.