With so many negativity engulfing politics and politicians in the country it is very difficult to successfully make a case for any politician. You literally get disarmed by the deluge of disappointments, and the weariness can sometimes be lethal. But for the interest of mother Ghana, we have to soldier on. Come every four years we rack our brains to pick a leader shrouded in a romantic belief that he will make a difference in our lives. That difference is basically relative to individual perception and needs. James Brown once said it is a man’s world, and it is not any different in Ghana. Men have dominated our politics since independence, and we don’t have much to show for.

It is imperative that, as a nation, we use all the tools at our disposal to inch towards the land of our dreams. And I believe, without any reservation, that women have special qualities, which we can tap, as a people with a common destiny, to propel us further. Perhaps, it is time for a woman, but the field does not look very good. The only one standing is Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, and I am tempted to eat my own words having stridently opposed her in this forum and elsewhere in the past. On the other hand, I am a realist, and I bet on sure things.

The success of the nation is an aggregate of individual excellence in various fields of endeavour. As such, I do celebrate the genuine success of those I even oppose ideologically. And better still, as a Ghanaian, I want all my compatriots to succeed irrespective of their political leaning, persuasion and social orientation. The probability of Konadu coming tops in the December polls is close to zero. It will be delusional to think otherwise. The only certainty is the millions of precious hard cash she is going to pour down the drain just for a couple of votes, besides making some hangers on very happy. And I don’t want that fatalistic rendezvous she is stubbornly craving for to happen to her.

There are thousand and one reasons advanced by pundits to explain why she wants the top job so badly. However, let us not be too cynical, but hypothetically assume that she is, fuelled by hubris, doing it for the love of country. Then again, the reality on the ground is different. The idea she is probably tinkering with is spending unlimited amount of cash, which is not even an absolute guarantee, since she will not be in the polling booth with those who take her money. To win the presidency you need a credible party machine with a reputable pedigree to back your candidacy. And unfortunately, she couldn’t secure that of the NDC. In effect, she lost that opportunity of ever becoming the first female president of the republic. Sadly, she has burnt her bridges with the only realistic party, which can make that dream a possibility. In other words it is a sign of saying now or never.

If she is a young woman in her late thirties or early forties then I would say, probably, she wants to advertise her name, and make a better pitch in the future, but she is not. Conversely, and this is based on supposition, if NPP should win come 7th December, then she can kiss that dream good bye. However, if NDC should win then she is a toast, since 2016 will definitely be the turn of NPP. And the age factor will become an unrequited love in both scenarios. The political pendulum has swung, and it did not swing in her favour. Historically, there has never been a breakaway party that has ever won an election in the country, and I am sorry to say she is not going to be the first. If she needs free piece of advice she can make a spiritual odyssey beyond the grave and have a private audience with Paa Willie of UNC fame. Another close at home is Kwabena Darko who is still among the living. Why did Akufo-Addo lose the 2008 election? In my opinion there is no logical reason for it. What did Ghanaians see in Atta Mills of blessed memory that they didn’t see in 2000 and 2004? When the pendulum swings and decides to pass you by, it doesn’t matter who you are, the indispensability of your leadership qualities and skills, and what that can brings to the table. Besides, the majority of Ghanaian electorates are maturing beyond measure. It will do her a lot of good if she analyses the voting pattern of the aforementioned years. If the late President who hails from the central region could lose in his own backyard when he contested with President Kufour on their back to back presidential elections then there is a lot for her to think about. At least, there is a region in the country that vote according to their conscience, and not by tribal sentiments and blind allegiance to any single party. It is safe to conclude that electorates can take her money and still vote the other way.

On a positive note, my assumption is that Konadu is doing this, because she wants to help Ghanaians. However, she doesn’t necessarily have to be in government to lift her countrymen. We need more businessmen and women and industrialist than political leaders. There is a high probability that she is aware of the undeniable fact that the key to the success of our economy lies in releasing the under productive labour workforce in the agriculture sector to secondary manufacturing, like processing of raw agric products. Our economic woes cannot be solved with the amount of our current workforce employed in the agric sector. She might be thinking that when she comes to power she will mechanise agriculture. But my question is who gets the tractor and the combine harvester? It is an insurmountable one; it is not a problem that can be solved easily without rocking the political applecart. Any attempt by the government to mechanise agriculture in Ghana will be still born. With the level of partisanship the funds for such project will go to party functionaries, and not those with the technical know how and the ability to make it a success. The tax payers’ money will be wasted and we will be back to square one engaging in our pastime of blaming others for our economic woes.

She is a compatriot. It is one thing not to see her as the president of the nation. Nevertheless, I will be ecstatic to see her excel and flourish beyond her wildest dreams in other capacities and this is what I am pitching for. So this is my humble advice. Don’t waste your money in politics; save it and put it in a productive investment. Make lots more money as you can, and in the process create jobs for your fellow countrymen, for example, in the primary and secondary agric sector of the economy. Establish a lot of charities that will endure the test of time and your name will live forever. This is how names like Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Fulbright et al are still here with us as household names. Personalities like Thomas Edison and Michael Faraday, they have immortalised their names. So long as our civilisation remains their names will forever be mentioned, because of what they did for humanity, yet they were not in government.

Philip Kobina Baidoo Jnr.

London baidoo_philip@yahoo.co.uk