Agenda 2020 will be fiercely resisted in the New Patriotic Party.

PREAMBLE: Let me first of all state that I do not court controversy. I speak my mind on what bothers me about the NPP. Let me also state here that soon after my articles in response to the innuendos, misrepresentations, falsehood and blatant lies spewed in the media by Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku and Katakyie Opoku Agyemang, I had some telephone conversations with some concerned members of the New Patriotic Party on the issue of washing our dirty clothes in public. I made it clear to them that I would cease fire if Katakyie Opoku Agyemang would do the same. They told me that they had asked some top members of the party to tackle the issues with Opoku Agyemang and they were optimistic something good would come out of it.

I would also like to state here that a few weeks after my article titled: “Is this the Kwabena Agyapong I rooted for” appeared in the media, I had a very lengthy conversation on the phone with our General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong. He called me and his own side of the issue. I made a promise to pay him a visit at his office. It is a promise I intend to keep.

I ADOPTED A SIDDON LOOK ATTITUDE: My conversations with the concerned members and the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party made me come to the realization that adopting a “siddon look” posture as enunciated by the late Cicero and former Attorney General/Minister of Justice of Nigeria, Chief Bola Ige was the best thing to do in the circumstances. I have religiously kept to that promise since.

But the other sides have not shown good faith. They have negated on every promise they made with the peace brokers if they ever made any. I had also thought that our General Secretary would change his manner of running the party’s secretariat. But no, he is still bent on running a “one man show” at the Secretariat which will lead us nowhere but Golgotha.

I HAVE TO COME OUT OF MY SHELL: It has been my painful duty to once again comment on the issues of the party, particularly as they pertain to the General Secretary. My heart bleeds for the party as I do so. But I have to do what I am supposed to do. And so, I appeal to members of the party to critically dissect the issues I will be raising in this write up. I have no ulterior motive in doing so. Having appointed myself a Special Aide to our Goldfish, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, who by the Grace of God, will be elected President of this Great Nation of ours, I have the onerous task of removing every impediment that is likely to thwart his ascendency to the Presidency. I do this with decorum and will hold fire at least for now.

ALAN IS BEING MISCHIEVIOUS: When I first heard Alan Kyerematen calling on delegates to discard Nana Akufo Addo and vote for him, I thought my ears were deceiving me. But no, it was the truth. And what was Alan reason for making that demand? It was that Nana had failed to win the Presidency on two occasions and is therefore not marketable. Juxtapose that statement with his supposed claim that he believed and agreed with the party’s hierarchy that Nana indeed won the 2012 Presidential Elections and you cannot help but agree with me that that suggestion to the delegates was mischief at its worst. This is a contest he, Allan and his supporters know deep down their hearts they stand no chance of winning. Why go on such tangent? Is it to give ammunition to our political opponents? Well, time will tell.

IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? In the early 1980’s, when the Maradona of Nigerian Politics and evil genius, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida was the master of all that he surveyed, Real Admiral Ebute Ukiwe, who had then been cashiered from the Military Regime made a profound revelation. He was Babangida Deputy in the ruling Regime before their relations turned sour.
THE DEDUCTION? He felt it was the inability of other members of the military regime to stand up to Babangida that resulted in the General becoming a dictator. He said when the AFRC was formed, they all had equal powers and decisions were based on consensus. But in one of their meetings, Babaginda announced the dissolution of the Ruling Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and the formation of the SMC made up of Service Chiefs. He said their failure to confront or call him to order was their own undoing. He added that Babangida at that time did not have any such powers. Having tested the water and found it shallow, the Maradona acquired more powers which eventually consumed them.
A SIMILAR SCENARIO IS UNFOLDING: What is happening in the NPP is similar to what Admiral Ebute Ukiwe talked about. When Opare Ansah was sacked as Director of Finance Committee, all the party’s apparatus kept mute with the exception of a few discordant voices. That emboldened the General Secretary and the National Chairman of the party to flex their tentacles further. Next, went the old security guards at the headquarters and the situation remained the same. Only few individual members of the party expressed their disdain by “attacking” the headquarters of the party. The other members of the Elected Executive Committee did not come out as a group to condemn the action.

THE VARIOUS PARTY ORGANS HAVE ALL FAILED US: The National Executive Committee, the Steering Committee, the Council of Elders and all the organs of the party have failed us for at the time we needed them most, they were nowhere to be found. They have been in a deep slumber for a long time. What is meritorious in the seemingly germane actions of the Secretary General? Why should we keep quiet while there is fire scorching the very fabric of the party?

DO THEY WANT A REPEAT OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD CUP? Yes, the violence which occurred at the party headquarters on two occasions was a natural reaction to the principle of unrestrained vengeance and hidden agenda. I condemn in all sincerity the bloodshed. But who is to blame? If the General Secretary continues with his military dictatorship without restraint, the party will pay dearly for it. We have been condemning the President and his team on the way the economy is being handled. When issues bordering on malfeasance affecting the Black Stars in Brazil surfaced, the powers that be told Ghanaians that there was no such thing. And when the repercussions dawned on us, it was too late to remedy the situation. Does the party elders want us to become ‘mumus’ when evil is having a field day?

EXORCISE THE NEGATIVE AURA SURROUNDING THE PARTY FIRST: Are the Party Elders happy with the way and manner the Chairman and his General Secretary are running affairs of the party? What is right and moral will always be right. In a similar vein, nothing can white wash an immoral act. It will always remain immoral and bad. What do you call a thief? He will always remain a thief. The Council of Elders should call a spade a spade and not pander to the whims and caprices of the two. The dismissals at the party headquarters without recourse to the principle of natural justice are becoming too many and must be halted. Martin Amidu is a member of the NDC but he went to court to help retrieve the stolen money from Wayome.

IS THE GENERAL SECRETARY A TEAM PLAYER? When a coach selects players, the paramount thing on his mind is team work. In a similar situation, we expect our General Secretary and the National Chairman to be pragmatic enough to realize that their agenda of conducting party “business” without consulting any of the established organs is detrimental to the fortunes of the party and will eventually lead us to Golgotha.

THE MASSES ARE SEETHING WITH ANGER: The masses of the party are seething with anger at the misuse of the mandate given to the duo to run the affairs of the party. They had tried very hard to contain the anger which had been boiling in them through months of frustration they had been forced to endure since the two became actors in the theatre of absurdities.

THE GENERAL SECRETARY SHOULD NOT GO THE WAY OF REHOBOAM: We all know the story of Rehoboam who refused to listen to sound advice. But listen to Rehoboam in the Holy Bible. “My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions”. Is that the sort of discipline the General Secretary wants to bring to the party? He cannot run a “one man show”. Moreover, he does not have any such power. He should not go the way of Hero, the mad Emperor who played the fiddle while Rome was burning. There are many ways he could be brought down to his knees and when he falls, what a great fall it will be!

The modern trend of running an organization is that if one has a vision, one should sell it to other members of group through dialogue, lobbying and compromise. The General Secretary and the National Chairman are just two individuals out of the 10 Elected Executive. The party have deemed it expedient to include the Minority Leader in Parliament, Honourable Osei Kyei Mensa Bonsu and the Chairman of the Council of Elders, C.K.Tedam on the Steering Committee. If The General Secretary of the party finds it so demeaning to consult other members of the Elected Executives, what about the Minority Leader and the Chairman of the Council of Elders?
IS AGENDA 2020 A MERE PERCEPTION? Members of the NPP are suspicious of every action of the General Secretary and the National Chairman. There are fears that that the duo are there to ensure that Nana Akufo Addo does not win the Presidency in 2016. That is a perception. Unfortunately, all the actions taken so far by both the General Secretary and the Chairman particularly the dismissals appear to give credence to that notion.

Why should Deputy Communicators be appointed whilst there is no substantive Director of Communications? Why not wait for the Flag bearer to be elected before going in for new Deputy Communicators? What will happen if the vision of the Flag bearer is not shared by the new Deputy Communicators?

Party members are worried because most of the appointments made so far seem to be tilted in favour of one particular presidential aspirant. These are genuine fears of members of the party.

There is also the general belief that the Chairman and the General Secretary have a hidden agenda to ensure that the Goldfish of the NPP, and the most likely candidate to win the presidential slot, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo does not win the presidency in 2016. This may pave the way for the emergence of their preferred candidate in 2020.
Let party members be assured that whether they like it or not, no such Agenda will see the light of the day. The General Secretary and the National Chairman of the party are two of our elected executives, but we equally have a stake on how the party is run. What we have at the moment is a rudderless party floating on turbulent waters. Who will direct the ship?

THE CATALYST: Both the General Secretary and National Chairman deliberately refused to take cognition of the fact that it was the party that sent Perry Okudzeto to pursue a Master Degree programme. Why should we lose the services of a person with such strong credentials? They asked him to go on leave for two years. Haba! What is the duration of a person’s leave in a year? Thirty working day, at most! Such directive is quixotic. And if I may ask, did the two make provision for Perry Okudzeto’s leave allowance to be paid?

WHAT THE NPP STANDS FOR: Our party stands for the nothing but the truth. We have been condemning President Mahama and the NDC on the reckless way they are running affairs of the country. Sometime ago, we were asking Rawlings to speak up on the way the country is being run. He did not disappoint; He has come out with one of his boom speeches.

When the NDC foot soldiers started seizing toilets, markets and tender documents, did we not condemn them? We did because their actions did not conform to the civilized norms of society.
If the two had imbibed the essence of team spirit, we would not be in the position we now find ourselves. Dismissing people who were doing voluntary work for the party is reminiscent of the early days of the AFRC and the PNDC’ era. We are not in a military era for our members to be subjected to such “buga buga” tactics by a civilian masquerading like a General of an army.
THE SITUATION CAN BE ARRESTED: Our MPs can bring the duo of the National Chairman and his General Secretary down to their knees if the former stop making further contributions from their salaries and allowances to the party.
1. Aggrieved members of the party can take the duo to court for the interpretation of that section of the constitution which gives absolute power to the General Secretary to make appointments and sack without recourse to established norms of the party. That is if there is any such clause.
2. The remaining Eight Members of the elected executives could initiate moves to get the two remove from office. The masses could also march in their numbers to take over the party headquarters, thereby putting an end to the anti-party activities of the two.
3. Finally, a scenario could be enacted where the remaining members of the elected executives would form a parallel Executive Committee which will hold its meeting at a different locations from the party headquarters.
If any of such scenario is enacted, where will all the flexing of muscles be? To avert any of such scenario, I urge both the General Secretary and the National Chairman to imbibe the idea of consultations when taking decisions which will impact on the fortunes of the Party.
THE SHOULD BE NO SACRED COWS IN THE INVESTIGATION: To bring this matter to a close, I endorse the decision by the Council of Elders , the Steering Committee, the NEC and the other organs of the party to set up an investigation body to look into the violence which occurred at the party headquarters last week.
WHO OWNS THE CAR? The National Chairman has made it clear that those who were involved in the violence were unknown to him. But speculations abound that the car in which the macho men were was part of his convoy and that of the General Secretary when they arrived at the venue of the press conference. We need to interrogate that issue.
Another rumour which is gaining currency is that the vehicle belongs to one of the aspiring presidential candidates. This will not be difficult to ascertain. The car is registered. Let the Committee liaise with the DVLA to find out whose name the car is registered.
Is the car still parked at the NPP headquarters? Why did the Police not tow it to their station?
We also learn the macho men in the vehicles wore the same uniform which was used by the security outfit at the headquarters. “Why should the security men on duty at the head office attack one of their own? And if I may ask, “were the security men on duty at the time of the press conference not members of the new outfit brought in by the two”?
These are relevant questions begging for answers. Getting right answers will enable us conclude as to say whether or not we have entrusted our party’s destiny into the right or wrong hands.
CONCLUSION: A man who is eager to inherit the widow is not likely to produce a redeeming medicine for the dying husband. The chicken that eats the worm forgets that the hawk is watching and is ready to pounce. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The past is the best prophet for the future.
Daniel Danquah Damptey (Self Appointed Special Aide to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo)
(damptey_daniel@yahoo.com) 0243715297.