Opinions of Friday, 11 December 2020

Columnist: Kwasi Korang

NPP leadership paralysis: Cause of party’s poor show in 2020 parliamentary election

File photo of NPP rally File photo of NPP rally

The scale with which the NPP won both presidential and parliamentary elections in 2016, one least expected that the party within a period of four years would make such a poor show in the parliamentary election.

The poor show of the party in the 2020 parliamentary election is a reflection of the poor leadership of the party right from the polling station level to the national level.

The way and manner that the 2020 parliamentary primaries were handled, the wanton disqualification of many prospective parliamentary hopefuls with some flimsy reasons in most cases, and the generally poor communication of the party are some of the reasons for the party’s poor show.

Leadership in the NPP in recent times has become a business entity, so people invest in various positions and run it with the intention of making a profit but the common good of the party.

The case of the Fomena MP who did not allow the leadership of the party to bully and forcibly lead him to end his parliamentary ambition has now shown that power belongs to the electorates but not the party executive and therefore those who think that they own the mandate of the people and by extension, their wishes should prevail at all costs are daydreaming. The man is vindicated that his popularity in the constituency far outweighs that of the party executive at constituency, regional and national levels.

The party according to him, tempered with the delegates album just to defeat him at primaries. He was very smart, he tried to avoid the weapons before the weapons could avoid him.

The party instead of investigating his claim about the temper of the album rather threatened him with expulsion from the party.

If we continue with the current crop of leaders of the party and its poor management of the party’s administrative issues, then we shouldn’t expect anything better apart from, plain sycophancy, backbiting, bootlicking, divisive tendencies, mudslinging, pure insults, and the use of foul language.

The NPP should rise up against poor leadership because the party is endowed with seasoned and consummate noble men and women who can run the affairs of the party with decorum than the insulting spree chairmen of the day.

The author is founder of Patriots Ghana