By Margaret Jackson

January 23, 2013

The NPP folks largely driven by their leadership have armed themselves with loads of flimsy excuses since the declaration of the presidential results in favour of the winner and still President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama by the Electoral Commission (EC) on Sunday December 9, 2012.

The latest excuse from the NPP has got to do with the two upcoming bye-elections in the Volta Region next month. The NPP which sees defeat staring them in the face have taken a sudden u-turn by declaring their boycott of the two bye-elections slated for Akatsi South on February 5 and in Buem on February 26. The bye-elections became necessary following the sudden death of the Member of Parliament for Buem, Mr. Ford Henry Kamel, while the Akatsi South seat became vacant when Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, was elected as Speaker of Parliament.

The pretext given by Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, General Secretary of the NPP on their supposed boycott of the bye-elections was that they have detected that at least 1 in 8 votes declared by the EC in the December election was invalid. If that is true, then what the heck are the NPP members doing in Parliament? It means that they have no business calling themselves parliamentarians because 1 in every 8 votes declared in their favour is invalid.

Owusu Afriyie went on to say that since they have a case pending at the Supreme Court, the NPP will not participate in any elections organized by the EC until further notice. These are the two major reasons given by the NPP to excuse themselves from participating in the upcoming bye-elections which they would have lost notwithstanding. The NDC overwhelmingly won the Akatsi South Constituency (Edward Doe Adjaho NDC-21,588 (65.08%), Leo-Nelson Adzidogah NPP-1,388 (4.18%) and Buem (Henry Ford Kamel NDC-19,031 73.77% (Francis Asuka-Boakye NPP-5,404 (20.95%) in the 2012 elections; therefore, the NPP would have been mere passengers if they had participated. That is why many pundits are saying that the NPP pulled out as a face saving measure.

The NPP folks have dug themselves into a deep pit and coming out will be a tall mountain to climb. The party’s Communications Director, Nana Akomea, made the situation worse when he stated that the NPP will even boycott any elections organized by the EC in areas considered NPP strongholds.

I am a realist but not a prophet of doom; therefore, I understood what Nana Akomea said very well. God forbid if we wake up tomorrow and we hear about the passing of an NPP Member of Parliament in let’s say Ashanti or Eastern Region or in any NPP stronghold, according to Nana Akomea, the NPP will not participate in any bye-election by the EC but will allow the seat to be taken by any of their political opponents because of their pending court case. Well noted!

If I want to delve further into what Akomea said, I can say that until their case is determined by the Supreme Court the NPP will abandon everything even including the salaries to be drawn by their Members in Parliament.

The NPP has totally banked its hope on the speedy ruling of their court case by the Supreme Court. But to serve them a reminder, in 2005, when the NDC filed a case with the Supreme Court, it took two and half years for the case to be determined. But the NDC Members in Parliament did not refer ex-President Kufuor as an illegal president whilst the case was in court. The NDC Members in Parliament also took park in deliberations in parliament whilst the NDC Party also took part in all bye-elections whilst their case was still pending.

Therefore, if the NPP is today telling Ghanaians that until their case is determined by the Supreme Court, they are not going to do anything, I suggest that their parliamentarians should also not draw their salaries including perks and even refuse to be referred to as parliamentarians until their case is determined.

I do hope that the media in Ghana and all well meaning Ghanaians have taken note of what Akomea said that until the Supreme Court determines its case, the NPP will never take part in any bye-election. I am hoping that Akomea will not come back one day and say he had been misquoted or his words were taken out of context. The NPP seems to be cutting and running around but like a rolling stone the party is gathering no moss.

magjackson80@yahoo.com http://majjacks80.blogspot.com