INTOLERANCE AND INTIMIDATION IN THE PARTY OF DEMOCRACY

Tolerance of divergent views and choice are the propelling factors of any true democratic institution. The New Patriotic Party prides itself on its ancestry of adherence to democratic ideals, verging sometimes on the claim that it is the defender of democracy in Ghana.

But if events since the transition of power from Ex-President Kufour to a would be successor in the party are anything to go by, intolerance, violence and intimidation are fast becoming the norm as interests groups and individuals battle for power within the party at all costs. Very recent reports of violence and threats from the Ashanti Region seem to confirm this trend.
A Regional Vice Chairman perceived to be of the Alan faction appears to have been attacked during a regional executive meeting. The same evening, the remote constituency of New Edubiase in the region was said to be conducting a mock election with the images of Nana Addo and Alan Kyerematen, the two main protagonists in the upcoming presidential primaries of the NPP.

This mock election would probably have passed for a harmless prank but for reports that polling station executives, who are first time voters in the primaries and will form between 85%-90% of the Electoral College, were being threatened that a vote for Alan would mean expulsion from the Voters Register of the Party. Reportedly, the ultimate propaganda effect expected of an overwhelming vote for Nana would be to discourage Alan from running. The potential impact of such tactics cannot be discounted in a semi-literate society.
Moreover, the threat of expulsion from the Voters Register is not idle. The Register is porous at best and party officers higher than polling station executives have been known to easily and brazenly tamper with the Register in favour of their preferred candidates at all levels of elections in the Party. This power is probably why contesting blocs in the Party have been keen to crow about the number of regional and national executive officers of the Party that they control.
In all of this however, the rumours of violence and intimidation tend to focus on the Nana Addo bloc in the Party. Nana is said to have inspired a stage managed Party Congress which amended the Party Constitution to expand the Electoral College for presidential primaries. Whilst that in itself is commendable, he is reported to have then relied on Dr. Amoako Tuffuor, a known mercenary in the Party, who used a well financed machine of threats and outright rigging to install polling station executives of Nana’s choice. It is these same executives that the bloc seeks to keep in line with constant fear mongering against the former President and by extension, Allan Cash-as he is popularly known.

Whether the intimation is working is yet to be tested. Alan appears to be taking time lacing his boots on the sidelines. Though Alan seems not to have fully entered the fray, perceptions of increasing resort to threats and violence against his supposed supporters ought to be a worrying signal to both front runners and to the Party as a whole. Of course both protagonists profess to be friends and tend to blame over zealous supporters, but the adage that there is no smoke without fire probably works in politics more than anywhere else.
Nana should be worried that his assumption of popularity and core message of having been already marketed for the national elections, needs so much force to enforce. Genuine popularity ought to reflect in spontaneous joy and relief in the Party but then who is to inform him as the sycophants around jostle for attention. Alan should be worried because it would take a herculean effort to reassure his silent supporters of their safety and thence his strength and ability to lead them to victory. Indeed, his biggest worry should be the form his show of strength takes. Ought he to confront force with force?
The Party should be worried about the siege on its long term conscience. If improperly handled, the presidential primary could end up delivering two splinter groups along the lines of the Popular Front Party and the United National Congress as happened in 1979 rather than a viable candidate capable of attracting enough non-committed voters to swing the 2012 election away from a battle hardened incumbent who has a reputation for stopping at nothing.
To save the situation, it is imperative that the newly elected National Executive Officers of the Party move to reassure Party members that they are capable of preserving democracy by ruthlessly crushing all forms of intolerance and intimation. This has the added advantage of offering hope to Ghanaians as a whole. However, it is easier said than done in view of a general credibility crisis in the NPP.
Quiet whispers abound of sophisticated rigging in the congress that brought the current National Executive to power. It is said that the Honourable Dan Botwe, MP and a former General Secretary, orchestrated a master plan that installed officers aligned to Nana Addo. It does not help matters that rumours persist that the immediate past Chairman and National Organiser along with Hon. Dan Botwe, are the kitchen cabinet of the current Chairman.
Isaac Osei, MP and Dr. Frimpong Boateng, renowned heart surgeon and failed aspirant in 2007, have declared their intention to run as neutral compromise candidates. But if the results of the February 27th 2010 national executive elections are anything to go by, the Party is not interested in compromise. Candidates who professed neutrality in that election lost miserably, especially anticorruption campaigner turned politician, Yaw Asamoah.
It therefore remains a responsibility of the National Executive to crack the whip and restore the finest ideals of democratic discourse in the run up to the presidential primaries. A presidential primary dominated by fear and tainted with allegations of vote manipulation will not succeed in mobilising the trust and respect required to bring the NPP to power. It will also not reflect well on the hard earned reputations of the National Executive. The challenge to this crop of NPP leaders therefore, is to restore and maintain free thinking in the NPP. If they fail, posterity will not forgive them.
Ghana stands to loose the most. Ghanaians must not wait for the NPP to implode and then bemoan the onset of a de-facto one party state. All Ghanaians must seize every opportunity to encourage free competition and choice because what happens at party level is transferred to behaviour at national level once the party comes to power.

Dr. Sam Baddoo
Illinois, USA
profsambadd@gmail.com