By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Well, the desperate Treasure Hunter (I will explain this epithet in due course) has spoken or, at least, he has emotively articulated his views on Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's marketability or rather, the ill-perceived lack thereof, as a twice-defeated presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The Treasure Hunter also claims, rather irrationally and gratuitously, that Mr. Alan John Kwadwo "Quitman" Kyerematen (a man who has never even stood for a parliamentary election) is the most eligible presidential candidate material among the top-echelon membership of the NPP presently.

The preceding argument rather pathetically presumes the NPP delegates, at least most of them, in the opinion of the vitriol trader, to be, somehow, incapable of critical thinking and have not been doing any critical thinking during the two presidential primaries that saw Mr. Kyerematen lose massively to Nana Akufo-Addo. But, of course, there is also a saying that "Charity Begins At Home." The fact of the matter is that if Mr. Kyerematen has not been able to appreciably command the massive support of NPP delegates during the party's last two presidential primaries, in which Alan Cash, as Mr. Kyerematen is popularly known, actively participated, then how can any deep-thinking Ghanaian citizen expect him to successfully carry a nationwide presidential contest against a seasoned politician like incumbent President John Dramani Mahama?

There must be a good reason why Alan Cash has consecutively failed to convince NPP delegates that he is a worthwhile candidate for his party's presidential ticket. And that reason cannot be facilely and insolently reduced to the woeful inability of the delegates to recognize and/or appreciate the purported electoral cynosure of Mr. Cash. And, by the way, how did this man come by the nickname of "Cash"? I mean, the greatest problem facing the country presently is rank corruption and grand larceny; which means that the next leader ought to be one with a decent track-record on fighting against these two carcinogenic social evils. Could his supporters claim their candidate to be that leader? I seriously doubt it!

Indeed, the reason why Mr. Cash has woefully failed to command the confidence of NPP delegates is that while he may well look as physically imposing (by Ghanaian standards) as his fanatical backers would have the rest of us believe, nonetheless, Mr. Kyerematen has yet to learn how to deftly and effectively match his impressive physique - or purported physical appeal - with the sort of intellectual depth and breadth, geniality of spirit and maturity of character, qualities which are widely acknowledged as having rendered former President John Agyekum-Kufuor the good, and some say great, leader that he was and still is.

In other words, merely being physically imposing, albeit intellectually vacuous and/or shallow, would not get any potential presidential candidate anywhere. The NPP delegates fully recognize this fact; and the Ghanaian electorate is not as parochial and superficial as some fanatical Kyerematen supporters would have the rest of us believe. Furthermore, in the matter of Mr. Kyerematen's woeful lack of emotional maturity and soundness of moral character, the former Trade and Industry and NEPAD Minister's reaction to his failure to win over the minds and hearts of party delegates at the 2007 presidential primaries, in particular, and his conspicuous disengagement from the party's 2012 presidential campaign, as well as presidential petition, speaks volumes about the fact of Mr. Kyerematen's being decidedly unqualified, or underqualified, to lead the New Patriotic Party into the 2016 Presidential Election at this time.

Maybe 10 years from now, when he would have matured well enough and learned to remarkably keep his infantile tantrums under control, Alan Cash may justifiably be deemed to be ready to lead the NPP into the Flagstaff House. And our UK-resident Treasure Hunter, who claims to have lost his job, as a result of flying home-side to facilitate the presidential election victory of Nana Akufo-Addo would, hopefully, have his wish of serving as Education Minister Plenipotentiary in President Kyerematen's government. But, of course, we all know that wishes, however fervid they may be, do not horses make.

At any rate, even as Mr. Kufuor used to admonish the most politically ambitious among party members, Mr. Kyerematen needs to join the line/queue and learn to be patient and humble and mature enough to wait for his turn. In 2008, the man rudely and selfishly left the party - it quizzically reminded me of being 9 years old and snatching my football from the rest of my teammates, because the opposing team wouldn't stop scoring against us and letting my team also have some control over the ball.

We need to also remember that Mr. Kyerematen deserted the New Patriotic Party with barely four months before the Election 2008 presidential contest; and it is nearly certain that most of his supporters and sympathizers did not vote for Nana Akufo-Addo. And so, really, if the party delegates allow political desperation to take over their common sense by electing Alan Cash as the NPP Presidential Candidate for Election 2016, there is absolutely no guarantee that the teeming supporters of Nana Akufo-Addo are not going to return the same negative favor to Mr. Kyerematen.

And here, also, ought to be recalled the fact that in the lead-up to Election 2012, Alan Cash was busy cozying up to President Mahama and soliciting the latter's support for the Chief Executive Officer's job at the World Trade Organization (WTO). In doing so, Alan was simply recalling his 2008 favor from the Bole-Bamboi native, then the running-mate of the now-late President John Evans Atta-Mills, having advised his "floating voters" to massively boycott Nana Akufo-Addo, one quite plausibly surmises, or by simply showing up at the polls and casting their ballots for Mr. Cash's fellow "Fante" candidate.

Well, my dear NPP delegates and my fellow countryfolk, that is Alan John Kwadwo "Quitman" Kyerematen for you - a cold calculating selfish and incorrigibly divisive personality.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
April 23, 2014
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
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