.....with their castigations on our (NDC) way to victory

“The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. And the test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.” --- Ralph W. Sockman

Going by the adage quoted above, it was clear that we of the NDC, as minority party before the 2008 elections, fought hard to snatch power from the hands of the NPP, at elections which they never thought they would lose. But it took much courage, bravery and audacity to snatch the power from them. And four years later, having seen their high sense of desperation, penchant and predilection for power, which has made them resorting to character assassination, we are utilizing the second element, which is tolerance, magnanimity and harmony, since we are the majority, we must level the playing field to ensure freedom of expression.

We should bear in mind that, it is this element of tolerance that made our late president won the enviable name Asomdwehehe, the king of peace, which is synonymous to tolerance, because were there is no peace, there is no tolerance. And obviously his successor, his Excellency President John Dramani Mahama embraced this trait of the late president fully, that is why he always implores his campaign, media and communications teams to be circumspect in their reportage and reactions to the insults and castigations of the opposition, because they are in the minority, and they do that due to desperation and frustration. This element of tolerance of our president, finds expression in the wisdom of Khalid Gibran an Arab prolific writer, that, “I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind…” A clear testimony of President Mahama’s tolerance that was clearly manifested was what we read in the media first week after the NDP’s congress in Kumasi, when he was asked in regards to Nana Kondu’s Party, he stated that, she is at liberty to belong to and lead any party she wants to, and even while few elements in our party were mistakenly advocating that, former President Rawlings be expelled from the NDC, due to his endorsement of his wife, Konadu, the president did not make any comment, and we strongly believe that he will not support that idea. What the President said was, he was not perturbed by her endorsement by President Rawlings, since he knows that he and the NDC are making inroads in their campaign. Because Majority of Ghanaians are sick and tied of the NPP’s false allegations and false promises of making Ghana a land of milk and honey. And the President never made any negative comment to express his dissatisfaction when Nana Addo visited former President Rawlings.

And since the President took over the mantle of leadership of this country about four months ago, the NPP and their cronies descended on him, using foul and filthy language to characterize him. According to Media Foundation for West Africa, a responsible media advocacy group, based in West Africa, “ For the sixth consecutive week, officials and supporters of the NPP led in the use of indecent expression by making 10 out of 17 indecent remarks by all the political parties in Ghana.” A clear cut lead in casting of insinuations. Some of these unguarded and highly inflammatory statements are; “All die be die”, attributed to the NPP presidential Candidate Nana Akufo Addo, “Ashantis will take their birth right as it happened in Ivory Cost.” by the NPP Chairman, Jake Obestebi Lamptey, and “Ashantis should wage war against the Ewes and Gas.” by Kennedy Agyapong, a statement which landed him in jail custody. And the rest of their cronies continuously criticize and castigate the President on the airwaves, the internet and the social media. This is part and parcel of their modus oprandi to make him unpopular.

Recently, when Ken Agyapong alleged that, he had some information regarding a gargantuan corruption leveled against the President and would want to exposed him to the media, we of t NDC NY media, research and investigation team won him to shut his mouth up without evidence to such unfounded allegations, else, we will dig deep into his fraudulent and phony deals in New York. And lo and behold, over two weeks now since our challenge to the notorious Ken, he decided to keep mute, because, he realized he lives in a glass house and does not want to throw stones, to avoid his house getting smashed and fragmented with stones thrown at it. This behavior of the NPP is reminiscent of Alan Loy Macginnis, a social psychologists who wrote in his book, Confidence, that, “Remember, the mind thinks in pictures and symbols, not words. So as we worry, we are seeing ourselves failing. We can sometimes be quite vivid in imagining this failure. We see ourselves embarrassed, flopping, standing with eggs on our faces. The rerunning of these tapes in our heads becomes a habit, and it then affects all our behavior.” Inarguably, the rate at which President Mahama is getting slammed and scolded by the NPP, with grossly exaggerated and outrageous allegations is unprecedented in the political history of Ghana. However, the more they insult the president, the more his popularity soars exponentially. One would hope the NPP could stop and take a stock of their activities, which make us see the charming President as a “brand”, they are advertising for us, free of charge without us paying for it, in the sense that, those insults are blessings in disguise for us and making the cool, calm, and charismatic President Mahama ever popular and likeable among the dominant voting segment of the population, such as women and the youth.

But the question one would ask is why so, in spite of his opponent, Nana Addo's proactive campaign throughout the country? And the simple answer is that, the President's sense of demeanor exudes high sense of humility, which is diametrically opposed to the mannerism of Nana Akufo Addo, Even his own party members and gurus testify to his lack of humility. Unlike President Mahama, Nana Addo’s life does not reflect this wisdom from Talmud, “Even if you be otherwise perfect, you will fail without humility.” Quite apart from humility, other qualities that make President Mahama the most marketable “Merchandise” in the market place of the Ghanaian electorates are; his honesty, integrity, magnanimity, tranquility, harmony, tolerance, elegance, eloquence and youthful exuberance, you name them, they are uncountable.

For those of us in the American Diaspora, and following the political activities of the Democrats and Republicans, there is a coincidental similarity between President Obama, who easily connects to the ordinary people and knows their problems just like President Mahama. While Governor Mitt Romney of the Republican Party (our version of the NPP) does not connect with the common people, a carbon copy of Nana Akufo Addo, so arrogant and aggressive for power. So as the wise say, birds with the same feathers flock together, Nana Add and Mitt Romney keep on giving utopian promises and flip-flopping, making voters who are predominantly women and the youth, lose interest in them.

The striking similitude and semblance between President Obama and President Mahama could also be look at from the intellectual and literary perspective, while President Obama wrote a book about his childhood life and working

on another book, President Mahama as well authored a book which is chiefly about his childhood and currently putting finishing touches to another book. President Mahama sets an enviable precedent for his contemporary leaders of this generation, especially in Africa, having successfully invaded the academic and intellectual terrain to the amazement of the custodians of this challenging domain.

Undoubtedly, President Mahama is a divinely chosen leader, which he himself never expected. His meteoric rise to the presidential pedestal reminds me of a catchy and captivating quote of Ben Okri that he culled and pasted at the preamble page of his worth reading book. Here is the quote, "We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It's just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn't have expected."

We therefore urge the Ghanaians youth and the undecided voters to do a sober reflection on who looks naturally presidential and to compare and contrast between the two candidates, to know whose vision is easily achievable and attainable for the interest of the nation and who is not just aggressive for power and will connect more to the youth, who represent the dynamic force for future national development.

We are gathering strong momentum as the president is criss-crossing the nook and cranny of this country to campaign, and he is attracting endorsement and support from some traditional leaders, and entertainment and sports celebrities in the country. So do not be left out of this opportunity to vote for president Mahama. Do not waste your vote by voting for a losing party, vote NDC for better Ghana.

Husseini Y. Baba Alwaiz, Press Secretary, NDC New York