By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Folks, we have restrained ourselves from diving into the public discourse on Kennedy Agyapong’s denigration of Mrs. Charlotte Osei, Chair of the EC, for a good reason. As is characteristic of us, we wanted to go beyond the mere implications of that denigration to explore the real issues behind it. We are convinced that what Agyapong said fits into the grand agenda of the NPP, which is what we want to examine now.

The nub of Agyapong’s drivel against Mrs. Osei is known. What is not known is its nitty-gritty, the fact that it is a calculated attempt at helping the NPP prosecute its grand agenda even as it recognizes that it has no substantial campaign message to outdo the incumbent. Thus, focusing attention on the EC and its Chair has become an attractive weapon of demonization so that doubts could be raised about Election 2016 and its outcome.

As a known hatchet man in the NPP camp, Kennedy Agyapong thinks that he has enough clout to cut Mrs. Osei to the size that the NPP has carved for her. So, why not go for the bulls’ eye as far as her moral self is concerned? Attack her as a loose woman so her credibility will plunge in the public sphere. Then, anything done by her or coming from her will be read against that script of immorality. Once regarded as immoral, nothing from her will be credible. Pronto, Kennedy Agyapong went to town on that score!! And he represents Central Assin in the Central region!!

I don’t know whether what he is in the news for is what the Assin Central voters sent him to Parliament to do; or whether the Assin people will be proud of him as such; or whether by investing him with electoral power, they are proud that he is in the news for the wrong reason and purposes. But I know that what he is doing fits into the grand agenda of the NPP to construct Mrs. Osei as a dog (or a bitch, as Agyapong will be wont to characterize her) to be given a bad name and hanged for the NPP’s electoral woes.

This grand agenda is multi-faceted. Based on the foundational posturing of militancy, street demonstrations, open confrontations with the state institutions charged with law enforcement, campaigns of calumny against President Mahama and the NDC, recourse to quasi-military training of their followers grouped into all kinds of vigilantes, and acerbic political rhetoric, the NPP aims at causing and sustaining tension in the country in pursuit of its political objectives.

It is known for all that it does in compliance with Akufo-Addo’s call-to-arms, couched as “All-die-be-die”. That is why it is fixated on the kind of rhetoric that highlights doom, gloom, and chaos, not peace and tranquility. A cursory analysis of such rhetoric shouldn’t leave anybody in doubt about the NPP’s choice of weapon to fight its cause at Election 2016.

The persistent use of media and journalists and other elements (including traditional rulers) sympathetic to their cause to undermine the incumbent and to heighten their scare-mongering politics is a well-orchestrated move to push forward that agenda of making the country ungovernable for President Mahama. That is why the Kojo Yanksons and Co. are running head-over-heels to bad-mouth President Mahama. That is why the shoddy cub-journalistic trash released by Manasseh Azure Awuni has become their fodder to chew on and vomit out as if it would fetch them any political capital.

But beyond all that vile move is the real stuff, which is to target the reputation of the EC Chair at this time to tear into shreds so that the main aspects of the grand agenda to cause chaos in the country could be nurtured and implemented when they lose the elections. It was in this sense that Kennedy Agyapong had earlier warned that Ghana would burn if President Mahama wins Election 2016. The main text is that the NPP should be the winner at all costs, regardless of what the voters decide. That explains why Peter Mac Manu could say that the NPP would collate and announce the election results on its own without recourse to the EC. With this mentality misguiding them, these NPP people are burning energy to sustain their campaign of “patapaa”.

An intelligent analysis of the situation tells me that after losing Election 2012, the NPP leaders realized that they could have taken the matter to a different level if they had fingered Dr. Afari-Gyan (former EC Chair) as the cause of their woes long before polling day. They did so through many fabrications and knee-jerk operations that ended up in smoke. That was why after the results had been declared, they launched a persistent campaign of calumny against him, calling him all sorts of names and wishing him dead. When they lost the petition hearing, they went into overdrive and cursed Dr. Gyan. He is still alive.

Realizing that they had lost the bid, probably because they hadn’t been proactive enough to tarnish Dr. Gyan’s image before Elections 2008 and 2012 to make anything coming from him unbelievable and unacceptable, they have chosen to do so this time, seeing Mrs. Osei as a sitting duck to be picked up for denigration. Why? Because once they dent her public image at the level of morality, she would come across as “incompetent”, “discredited”, and unbelievable. In that sense, anything done by the EC under her will itself be regarded as such. That is the sticky point in this Kennedy Agyapong-led personal attack.

They have already created the impression that the EC isn’t qualified as a neutral body to conduct the elections; or that it is ill-prepared to do so just because their call for the compilation of a new voters register has been rebuffed. What the Supreme Court has set in motion is just a step toward complicating matters. If care is not taken, the situation could end up being manipulated by those already convinced that they have already won Election 2016 in advance and are just waiting for the date of the polls to confirm their self-worth. It won’t happen, which explains why the NPP’s agenda is a major threat to the country.

We note here that Agyapong’s personal attack on Mrs. Osei at this time is a calculated move to test the pulse of Ghanaians. So far, the quick negative reaction to his inanity may alarm him and those pushing that button, even if they won’t openly acknowledge it or budge to pressure for Agyapong to apologize. As Agyapong has countered, he will strip Mrs. Osei naked if anybody dares him. Crass stupidity!!

What he implies here is that once the NPP has settled on Mrs. Osei’s reputation to tear into ugly ribbons, it won’t set her free or relent until its mission to “decimate” her is accomplished. This is a kind of “psychological warfare” to intimidate her beyond control so she will lose her mojo. In other words, the main purpose for denigrating her is to weaken her morally in the eyes of the public and to render her untrustworthy such that whatever comes from the EC that she chairs will be equally dismissed as discredited. The NPP’s agenda on this score is clear. It aims at tarnishing the EC Chair’s reputation so she can’t have the moral courage to do her work, torn apart as she is likely to be in the face of the public humiliation.

But this move is childish. Unless Mrs. Osei truly sold her conscience and offered her body to secure the appointment, she has nothing to fear from this personal attack. And if she can muster up enough courage to proceed to court, she should do so. And if she has nothing to fear, she should pursue litigation on this serious allegation to its logical conclusion. Sane minds will support her to the full.

The nagging question is: What did Kennedy Agyapong say when she was appointed to head the NCCE at the death of Larry Bimi? Did she offer her body for that one too? If not, why not? Or is she now being dismissed as a whore because she is the EC Chair whose role in Election 2016 and others is what the NPP fears, even after endorsing her when appointed by President Mahama? And why the paranoia, anyway?

In reinforcing his inanity, Agyapong is reported to have said that the only reason for his taking on Mrs. Osei is that she is in bed with the NDC to retain President Mahama in office, which explains his personal attacks on her. So, why choose to base everything on her offering her body when he cannot substantiate it? Just read his pronouncements here (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Dare-me-and-I-will-strip-Charlotte-Osei-naked-Ken-Agyapong-451376) and tell me whether Agyapong is not being fuelled more by political mischief than any fact about Mrs. Osei’s immorality. Boasting to strip her but turning to say why he will do so and not giving us any evidence of her immorality smacks of mental retardation.

And what do Agyapong and the NPP fear? Simple, as explained by Agyapong himself: (a) to “expose all the 'diabolic plans' of the EC boss; (b) “The woman’s posture and attitude is enough to let people know who she is. If you like dare me, and I will you show why Charlotte Osei is doing that.”

His claim that “but for the intervention of some people he respects in the NPP, he would have said even worse things about the EC boss” wraps up everything about him as a madcap politician, leading to doom the NPP’s armada of rogue politics in our time.

Folks, are you surprised that so far, nothing has come from the NPP Establishment to either support or condemn Agyapong? You shouldn’t. After all, what Agyapong is doing has the blessing of Akufo-Addo and his cabal. Anthony Karbo’s statement that the NPP won’t react to it sums it all up. What will the NPP say differently, anyway, knowing very well that Agyapong is the man doing their hatchet job? The bitter truth is that what Agyapong has begun doing it forms part of the NPP's grand agenda to cause disaffection for Mrs. Osei and to prepare minds to reject the outcome of Election 2016 if it doesn't favour the NPP. Too bad for Ghanaian politics.
I shall return…
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