: A Necessary Step Forward.

Many factors have been attributed to the NPP’s poor showings at the national polls albeit, amidst controversies. Opinions have been offered and criticisms made about what the causes and solutions to these problems could be.

In this article, I would like to discuss the factors that have reinforced this phenomenon. I would like to discuss the party’s public image, elections, distribution of political power, missed opportunities under former President Kufuor, comfortability of members, and offer an opinion on the best way forward. Perception is very important. Anybody who thinks otherwise does not appreciate public opinion and certainly cannot control public opinion. Politically, one’s ability to control or shape public opinion is the most powerful tool at his disposal. To this end, whatever opinion that the Ghanaian public has about the NPP is based on the image it has created for itself. Presently, it is obvious that the NPP is an Akan-dominated party, Ashanti-Akyem, to be precise. There is nothing wrong for a party to have a strong support base. For in every democracy this trend is apparent. So it is in order when Ashanti and Eastern regions continue to throw their support behind the NPP. After all, the NDC, a rival party also has its base in the Volta, Upper East, Upper West, Northern and Western regions.

However, as we have noticed in the past elections, the two regions cannot deliver an election victory. This lesson was learnt by the party executives after the 1992 and 96 elections. The executives had to develop a strategy to broaden their support base by relying mostly on the youth and students from the tertiary institutions. When the strategy was effectively deployed, it worked and victory was eventually delivered to the party for the first time in 2000. So expansion is very critical to the party’s future successes.

By elections I mean election of the party executives and filling in of positions. The current practice is very discouraging and must change. Since 1992, the party executives have been predominately Akan. As for the presidential candidates, it’s important a popular candidate is given the nod. We cannot experiment on that. We can learn from the example of the late Professor Mills who was handpicked as the presidential candidate even when he did not pass the popularity test. It was a huge political blunder on the part of President Rawlings.

Again, I would say public image of the party is very important and it is built partly on elections. The tribal background of the party’s officials send a powerful message to voters, and you’d better believe it. It is time the party begins to bring in non-Akan people on board. Give them media appearances as that would help attract more supporters. The NDC is very savvy when it comes to this. They have used it effectively to keep their grips on the electorates. It is a matter of common sense, if you really need political power.

Continuing from my preceding point you would see why distribution of political power is very important and has to be handled with tact. This idea is predicated on how the political power ball is played. You cannot keep the ball in your half of the court forever and expect to win. It is suicidal to do so. Whose opinion is credible and whose is not? That is what I’m talking about. Whose recommendation to the party is legitimate and whose should be treated with a pint of salt? What you need to understand is that the minority groups who have joined the party have made enormous sacrifices against their personal comforts. Sometimes some have had to endure ridicules, insults, physical assaults, name calling for supporting the NPP. These folks deserve the same status as their Akan counterparts. Sadly enough, the Akan folks don’t want to identify themselves with the non-Akans due to some self-conceived superiority they claim they have over them. There have been so many instances where some people within the party have been sidelined or shortchanged because of their non-Akan backgrounds. This practice is sick and condemnable!

If you ask an Ashanti person who is also an NDC member whether he feels comfortable or secure with the party, the answer would be an emphatic yes. Conversely, if you ask a Voltarian or Northerner who supports NPP with all his might the same question, he would stutter to give an answer. Ethnocentrism is the bane of NPP. In spite of the modest improvements in the performance of the NPP in the non-Akan regions during the last three general elections, the Akans still make pronouncements that are insulting to the intelligence of these minority groups. Nobody would like to be stuck in a party where he is not noticed nor his efforts appreciated. This is the dilemma of many non-Akan NPP supporters. Indeed, this point entails a lot, for which reason I pledge to submit a separate article on it in the coming weeks. But next, let’s consider the missed opportunity under President Kufuor.

Under President Kufuor’s presidency, the NPP had a good opportunity to improve upon its image and electoral performance. What a wasted opportunity. For the records, delivering a good economy to the people doesn’t necessarily win elections; it is an added advantage, though. I would give you two classic scenarios to buttress my point. In 2000, when Vice President Al Gore ran against George Bush, he had positive economic indicators to his advantage but lost the elections. Again, Obama won his second term based on the support he gained from the constituencies he had helped during his first term in office; Ohio factory workers and Michigan’s auto industry are typical examples. But he had to go to them and constantly remind them to reciprocate the help given to them with votes. This is what NPP failed to do. For instance, while the administration had spent time working on the economy, it failed to translate this achievement into a political capital. All the attention was focused on who should be the party’s flag bearer to the detriment of expanding the electoral base of the party. After the eight years of Kufuor’s administration nothing seemed to have changed in terms of the electoral map—the NDC still had their strongholds and machinery intact. Meanwhile, a handful of projects in these constituencies could be pointed to as the modest achievements of the NPP. In my hometown (and I believe in many other places too) in the Volta Region, for example, a classroom block under HIPC was constructed in 2002, and another was started before the party lost power in 2008. However, no high-profile NPP politician had attempted to take a political advantage of that kind of achievement. The problem is that the NPP executives don’t have that personal contact with the minority groups in the party. You would agree with me that the NDC under Rawlings used the rural electrification to garner votes from the rural folks, and I hope the party would be able to learn from them and correct these types of mistakes in the future. It is a wake-up call to reality.

There is a very pragmatic and result-se eking way forward: de-Akanization of the NPP. This is what the party needs to do in order to attract more support from other ethnic groups who feel uncomfortable within the party. Some people feel uncomfortable because they are treated as less important in the party. Someone may ask: if you feel uncomfortable in the party, why don’t you get the hell out? My answer is, if you feel uncomfortable in a foreign land because you are a member of a minority group, would you leave the country, when you know you have better opportunities in that country? Picture yourself as an immigrant in the U.S. and you would get it. The reason why NDC is a formidable political force to reckon with is that it is all-inclusive and regionally balanced. The same cannot be said about the NPP. Therefore, the NPP needs to bring people from other ethnic backgrounds to the forefront. Engage them and their people would feel proud be part of it. You cannot hold one belief in theory and another in practice; it’s a recipe for disaster. If the party holds the tenets of democracy high, it must be felt within the party itself. For all you know, the political currents might change direction and today’s minority would be tomorrow’s majority. It happened in the U.S. where the blacks once supported the Republican Party, but now support the Democratic Party, and it is possible in Ghana.

The party must task the regional and constituency executives to step up with their performance. But, you see, my friend, people are willing to make any sacrifices provided there is a good reason for doing so. Supporters and potential supporters in the minority groups want to see that there is trust, respect and recognition for their membership, the type accorded to the majority groups. And, be reminded that people are watching the way you treat the few minority members among you before they decide whether to join the party or not. It is time for the party to get serious with the art of politics in terms of creating a good public image, elections, distribution of power, and making sure every Tom, Dick and Harry is comfortable within the party.

Contact: okrahboateng@yahoo.com/iboaten00@ccny.cuny.edu