Opinions of Monday, 22 May 2017

Columnist: theheraldghana.com

A good leader is a master of timing

Dr Kwame Nkrumah Dr Kwame Nkrumah

It is said that, those who sow the storm, must reap the whirlwind.

Ghana needs another Dr. Kwame Nkrumah; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) needs another Jerry John Rawlings.

The atmosphere is ripe for a leader to emerge to lead the charge to bring about the needed competition the New Patriotic Party needs.

The NDC is broken and needs fixing, the members are disillusioned, dishearten and have lost hope in the wake of the 2016 humiliating defeat.

This is the time for a born leader to emerge to lead the party and so far I am yet to see that person.

The great leaders, we all read about growing up, the likes of Alexander the great, Mahatma Gandhi of India, Jomo Kenyata of Kenya, Nelson Mandela and our very own Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, saw a vacuum and they took advantage, it came to them naturally, because they had it in them.

These leaders didn’t wait to be told the time was now, they knew it, they saw it and like a thunder they struck and today the world is a better place, because of their sacrifice.

Timing is everything in life, good leaders choose their time very well, I am at a lost why the NDC is yet to have such a leader.

The NPP started on a wrong foot, President Akufo-Addo, put his wrong foot forward, when he took the oath of office. His first engagement with Ghanaians, was a spectacle of epic proportion, the optics of his administration was the announcement of 110 ministers of state and their deputies.

The 2.25billion dollars bond saga is still unfolding with many angles that do not look good, even though, we are all being told we are all stupid and ignorant and should keep quiet, thanks to all-knowing vice-president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Last week, something absurd happened, eight delta force members, who were arraigned before court, were discharged for lack of evidence, this was after they stormed a high court in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, in broad day light akin to a Hollywood movie to free 13 of their members standing trial for assault.

The minority in parliament after the court decision, meekly addressed a press conference to attack the government, which many will see as propaganda. The NDC, cannot leave everything to the minority, someone must rise from the ashes like the phoenix to rescue the party.

Five months old baby can be weaned, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government, have breastfed enough, they can now start chewing solid food. Whatever honeymoon that they have been given is long enjoyed and it is time for them to be made aware of why they were voted into power.

The NDC is refusing to fly, everything anyone says, he or she is referred to the Kwesi Botwey committee, as if the committee is the be-it and end-it- all committee. The problems and solutions of the party go beyond the committee and so the earlier the committee is done with their work, for the party to move on the party.

We are all students of history, we have all read about our founder and first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who disobeyed the status quo. He emerged at the time the country needed leadership, he did not coil, he did not wait for his time, he ceased the moment and he rose above the storm.

When Jomo Kenyata of Kenya, started saying, the whites must leave their country, many were those who thought him mad, they were like, who koraa is this, but he did not relent, he fought until Kenya got its independence.

A brave man sounded a rallying cry in India, despite the imprisonment, harassment, he put his life on the line and declared hunger strike. He was not going to give up his suffering and crusade, until the British leave India. His tenacity and sense of purpose, got the support of the world, India became Independence and today, he is seen as the father of that country.

Coup d’état is the highest form of treason in every country, only the daredevil, make the attempt to overthrow governments, whether they are military or civilian. A group of soldiers attempted a botched coup in this country, one man took responsibility of it and said “Let my men go”. former president, Jerry John Rawlings, saw an opportunity and because he was born a leader, he could smell it and he knew that was the right moment to shine.

Today, he is a former president, after having governed this country for 19 years, he is also the founder of the National Democratic Congress.

When the Jews were told, the messiah was coming; they did not expect him to be Jesus Christ, but when he showed up, he did that at the opportune time. He is today, the example of a great leader, who walked the surface of the earth. Even in death, we still learn and teach about him.

The NDC, is not short of people, who impacted positively on humanity and changed the world. The NPP led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, are now waking up to the reality that, governance is not propaganda.

Members and teeming supporters of the NDC, need to hear from someone, they need a voice, a rallying cry, someone who would give them hope of a better tomorrow. They need someone to tell them all is not lost and that they is light at the end of the dark tunnel.

They just came out of a mortifying defeat; silence is no longer golden at this time in their lives. Who will be that messiah that, the party is yearning for.

There is no better time than now, a good leader is a master of timing.