Friends, please get ready for today's English lesson.

Tenses show when an action takes place.

There are five types of tenses.

Simple tenses, under which we have present, past, and future. Example: climb, climb, will climb.

Perfect tenses, under which we have present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. Example: have climbed, had climbed, will have climbed.

Progressive tenses are also under which we have present progressive, past progressive, and future progressive. Example: am climbing, was climbing, will be climbing.

Perfect progressive tenses, under which we have present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, and future perfect progressive. Example: have been climbing, had been climbing, will have been climbing.

Emphatic form, under which we have present emphatic and past emphatic. Example: do/does climb and did climb. There is no future emphatic because one can't emphasize something that hasn't been done yet.

In congruence with the above lesson, the following ensued between a teacher and his pupils:

Teacher: One day Bawumia will become the president of Ghana. Which tense is that? A boy raised his hand and shouted, "Teacher, teacher."

Teacher: Yes, Samuel, tell us the answer.

Samuel: Future impossible tense, sir.

As much as Samuel's "future impossible tense" coinage may be funny, it is highly probable, and I will explain.

According to a report by Citi Newsroom on July 13, 2023, written by Leticia Osei, a national tracking poll conducted by Global InfoAnalytics Limited says that 54% of Ghanaian voters prefer Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen to lead the New Patriotic Party into the 2024 polls, while 46% said they will prefer Dr. Bawumia to Allan.

The polls however state that even though Kyerematen leads among all voting blocs, especially floating voters, 55% of NPP voters are for Bawumia as against 45% for Allan.

The polls further predicted that Dr. Bawumia may lose the primaries if there is a run-off because it is likely the supporters of the other aspirants will throw their weight behind Allan.

Some people have been accusing Dr. Bawumia of desperately moving from church to church in his quest to become the next president of the Republic, but I want to be honest here. Alhaji Bawumia's association with Christianity dates way back, perhaps decades, and I want to believe that he is not doing it now because he wants to be president.

I remember somewhere in 2007 he visited a church where I was worshipping, in the company of his friend who is now a Supreme Court judge. Dr. Bawumia looked more affable, innocent, sweeter, and happier without the weight he now carries. How I wish he had remained like that without going into politics.

When I was growing up, there was this saying in Akan, "It is only at the end of a movie that you will see Charlie." The movie, Who Leads the NPP to the 2024 Presidential Election is getting fascinating by the day, but the picture does not look good for my friend, Dr. Bawumia.

Ah, well, the movie is still ongoing and we will see Charlie in the end. But as to whether Richard will succeed in changing English grammar with his "future impossible tense" as the sixth type of tense, time will tell.