IT HAS TO BE NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO FOR THE GOOD OF NPP AND GHANA

Last year I wrote an article urging the NPP presidential hopefuls to be patient. In it I argued that the Danquah/Busia tradition has always had layers of leadership and in my opinion the presidential candidate should be chosen from a particular layer in order to bring sanity to the whole exercise of finding a successor to his Excellency the President, John Agyekum Kufuor. I even put my head on the block by making a short list of four, namely, Dr. Addo-Kufuor, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman and Nana Akufo-Addo. I did give my reasons for this short list.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and after carefully listening and following the arguments so far, and having informal conversations with different kinds and levels of people, I would like to put my head on the block once again and state categorically that it has to be Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the good of both the NPP and, ultimately, Ghana. In doing so I am aware that I will certainly incur the displeasure of all the other presidential aspirants many of whom are my personal friends. Yet unbiased and rational observers would have realized by now that any time I write about an issue on the NPP, since 1992, I do so in the supreme interest of the party and never to advance my own selfish ends. This time around, we are at a critical cross roads and the bottom line is to retain the NPP in power.
Wise people always admonish us that “An unexamined life is not worth living”. From what I gathered from my informal conversations with people high and low, I came to the firm conclusion that if all the aspirants had reflected deeply on their chances and on the overall interest of the party, most of them would not have dared to embark on this tedious venture which will end up without any reward for them, and may rather seriously rock the unity and cohesiveness of our party. Let us look at a typical example of the smooth transition from Prime Minister Tony Blair to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Every Labour Party Member of Parliament had the right and the liberty to contest for the leadership when Blair decided to give it up. Yet the consensus was on Gordon Brown and the few Labour MPs who had earlier declared their intention to contest rescinded their intentions. Even John Prescott who served as Deputy Prime Minister to Tony Blair for ten solid years did not offer himself for the leadership of the party.
The arguments so far from our presidential aspirants have centred on ethnicity, religion, youthfulness and other trivial issues including false teeth. Unfortunately, most of them have not been able to tell the potential delegates and the public exactly what they will do differently in order to build upon the strong foundation that the Kufuor NPP government has firmly put in place. In other words, whatever has been achieved over the past seven years has been based on the vision of the President. Any serious presidential aspirant should be telling us what his vision is for the country and party. That is the way to introduce dynamism into an incumbent democratic party that seriously wants to retain power. Telling the public what you will do differently does not mean that you are criticizing the incumbent president or government of your own party. Yet it is vital for the renewal and rebirth of the party and government. After all, no democratic government in this world is 100% efficient and there is always room for new ideas, particularly from those who want to lead, in order to keep the party in power. Business as usual does not and cannot retain an incumbent party in power in a tight multiparty democracy like ours.
There is no need for me to comment on those who attempt to introduce ethnicity and religion into the campaign by crisscrossing churches and mosques as well as employing tribal sentiments to win the sympathy of the delegates. It is happening for the first time since 1992 and all that I can say is that a stop should be put to it since it is divisive and can lead us into a long period of post-congress gloom and thereby affect our campaign. As for the argument of youthfulness, that is a deliberate attempt to confuse the delegates. Those who are serious followers of global democracies will testify that vision, experience and qualities of leadership, among others, are more important than the age of a candidate. After all, Reagan became the President of the USA at age 70 and was reelected at age 74; Japan has just elected a Prime Minister who is in his 70s; and, India once had a Prime Minister (Shastri?) who was in his 80s. Even in Africa, both Mandela of South Africa and the Senegalese President (Abdulai Wahad?) were elected in their 70s.
It is also significant for former ministers of state and national officers not to over play their personal achievements as office holders. It is enough to be recognized for having served in those positions but achievements are collective and belong to the government and party. To the best of my knowledge, the party’s constitution makes the national chairman the leader of the party. Once a presidential candidate is elected, it is he or she who leads the party to an election and supported by the national officers and the campaign team. At the end of it victory or failure belongs to the presidential candidate and the party.
I have settled on Nana Akufo Addo ahead of the other three based mainly on the informal conversations with people, backed up by my personal experiences about him. Like the other three, he has the vision, the experience, leadership qualities and has rendered numerous sacrificial services to the party. The difference is that many people I have talked to believe that he will be more easily electable than the others, based simply on his popularity. Besides, he is transparent and has absolutely nothing to hide. However, people perceive him to be “arrogant” and “hot-headed”, which he himself has alluded to. To me, arrogance is generally associated with people who are successful in any field of endeavour. In any case, most followers of the Danquah/Busia tradition, right from the time of the founding fathers to date, are perceived as arrogant mainly because most of them are successful and self-made.
To be hot-headed is one of the top qualities of a good leader. I believe that those who use it on Nana have realized that he is the one to beat. You cannot fight to uphold the cardinal principles of the Danquah/Busia tradition, particularly democracy with all its attendant freedoms, if you are a coward. Followers of Ghanaian politics can testify to the fact that Nana has fought for freedom and justice in this country right from the front. He couldn’t have done that if he was a coward.
Nana Addo is also a man of integrity because he lives up to his words. In a speech he made at a reconciliation dinner, organized by His Excellency Kufuor at his residency for the defeated candidates at the Sunyani special delegates conference in 1998, Nana pledged his support and loyalty to the then presidential candidate and promised to work hard for a Kufuor victory. Thereafter, he acted exactly according to his words and contributed immensely not only to a Kufuor victory in 2000 but also a repeat victory in 2004. In government, Nana Addo has served the President diligently first as Minister of Justice and Attorney General and most important of all as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD. A man who lives and abides by his words is trustworthy and will not let down the NPP and, ultimately Ghana.
I have no doubt that all the aspirants can make good presidents, but they have to win a national election first, but not all of them are winnable. If any aspirant thinks that because of NPP’s incumbency winning in 2008 is a forgone conclusion, then he should think again. There are many incumbent governments in Africa who felt so and lost power. The latest example is Sierra Leone where the incumbent Vice-President had the total support of the incumbent President and lost. In Nigeria, the incumbent President in his wisdom decided not to support the incumbent Vice-President who went on his own way and lost miserably. Even in our own country, the incumbent Vice-President Atta Mills had the total support of the incumbent President and lost. These examples should teach our delegates the lesson that incumbency alone does not guarantee success in a democratic election. It is a suitable candidate who can guarantee that success. Suitability has nothing to do with cash, height, weight, beauty, handsomeness or false teeth. It has to do with vision, experience and sacrifice, among many other attributes.
I have always believed in the integrity and loyalty of our delegates. Since 1992, every special national conference has produced a candidate of the moment and for the moment, and the delegates are always quick to identify that person and give him their support. In 1992 it was Adu-Boahene; in 1996 and 1998 it was His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor. This time around I have no doubt in my mind that the candidate of the moment and for the moment is Nana Akufo-Addo. I am aware that in every liberal democratic political party there are factions. However, in the interest of the party, it is much better to have a non-member of your faction in the presidency than to have someone else from another party. Let us bury our personal and factional interests and wholeheartedly support Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the good of our party and mother Ghana.