As Usual, Okoampa Plays Out Of His League*Feature Article | By Nana Akyea
Mensah, The Odikro.**(**Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheOdikro)
A Rejoinder to: As Usual, Alban Bagbin Plays Out Of His
League,
Columnist: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.


Hi grandson,

This is the fourth rejoinder in a row. None of them have been kid blows! And
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., is no where to be found! In his latest article,
Okoampa pretends that a recent call-in to the Radio Gold's current affairs
program “Alhaji and Alhaji,” by the former NDC parliamentary majority leader
asking the “Minority group in Parliament [to be] grateful for the fact that
President Mills…includes them in decision-making and public projects,
...demonstrates that the substantive Minister for Water Resources, Works and
Housing appreciates pathetically little about the participatory culture of
parliamentary democracy." And here? I suppose that for heaven's sake,
Okoampa's definition of a parliamentary democracy is not limited to the
business in parliament, but is extended to cover every aspect of a healthy
parliamentary democracy.

In that sense, I wonder why it is not Okoampa but rather Bagbin who is out
of his league! I wouldn't bother the reader with the litany of the woes of
the opposition and the Ghanaian patriots during the eight years of the NPP
misrule. Just mentioning Vodaphone keeps my blood boiling up! It is clear
that from what Okoampa is saying, the NPP has not even given itself any
chance to recognize their mistakes, let alone to learn from them. The reason
why the elephant must once more be returned to the bush is because they
still have no clue about why they were removed from power. The sinner
remains not only unrepentant but also unaware if his sins, and is not even
asking for forgiveness. The sinner has resorted to telling stories that have
neither head nor tail!

If you want us to talk about parliamentary democracy, why don't we begin
with the most topical issue of the week? This Saturday, the NPP is electing
its flag-bearer to contest for the 2012 Presidential Elections. It is a very
strange pity that a party that trumpets and extols the virtue of democratic
governance is having a lot of problems being transparent, open, free, and
even minimally fair! With barely two days to go to the Congress, The Ghanaian
Chroniclereports:

*"PROFFESSOR Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, one of the presidential aspirants of
the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has accused the leadership of the party of
making the moves to direct the results of Saturday's Congress a particular
direction. According to him, the executives were trying to woo the delegates
to vote in a certain way, warning that the decision would be a recipe for
chaos." *(See: NPP CONGRESS WILL NOT BE FREE & FAIR,
*… Accuses execs of directing results
in a particular
directio,
**By: Bismark Beble**,** *Wednesday, August 4, 2010, Source: Ghanaian
Chronicle)

I find it very interesting that none other than a leading member of the NPP,
fit enough to be considered a potential flag-bearer of the party is bitterly
lamenting about the undemocratic nature of the NPP! We all know that charity
begins at home and not from the comments of Mr. Albin Bagbin on Radio Gold's
current affairs program “Alhaji and Alhaji”! And the so-called "charity"
going on at Okoampa's home does not look very good. Professor Frempong
apparently is not going to take it without throwing his own punches:

"He regretted that a party that is touted as being adherent to democratic
principles, would now use foul means to coerce delegates to dance to their
tune, when indeed, no credible and scientific survey had been conducted to
prove that the particular candidate would generally be accepted by
Ghanaians."

What the professor is saying is not different from my own analysis in a
rejoinder to your article The “Rascal Four” Must Be Censured For Crying
“Wolf!”,
Feature Article of Wednesday, 21 July 2010:

"If I were Akufo Addo, and I was very sure of myself of victory, I would do
everything to ensure transparency as much as possible to ensure my political
legitimacy. But Akufo Addo is not me, and it appears he has other campaign
issues higher on his agenda than a dangerously transparent, free and fair
elections that stupidly run the risk to scupper what seems to be a very
elaborate and expensive scheme of rigging the elections in his favour. So
far, it is not clear whether Akufo Addo really wants to win the 2012
elections or this is just a personal ego trip, irrespective of the results.
If this is true, then he does not necessarily need any form of cooperation
from the recalcitrant four. So why not, it is very necessary to insist on
party procedure and doing nothing meaningful about the complaints until
after the Congress, when, hopefully it might be too late, and as everyone
knows today, Jake would be on stand-by to issue another four-liner."
(See:Re: The “Rascal Four” Must Be Censured For Crying
“Wolf!”by
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro, Tuesday,
July 20, 2010, A Rejoinder to: The “Rascal Four” Must Be Censured For Crying
“Wolf!”,
Feature Article of Wednesday, 21 July 2010 by * *Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame)

It is quite interesting the the NPP formula for defeat was defined by no
other person than Akufo Addo himself. In a recent meeting with party
delegates at the Tip Toe Gardens on Wednesday, 21st July 2010, in the
Ayawaso Central constituency, Nana Akufo-Addowas reported to have told them:

“I am confident that by the grace of God, and with unity within our ranks,
if you elect me as flag bearer into the 2012 general elections, victory will
come our way as a party,” he said. (See: *NPP primaries would determine
Ghana’s future -
Akufo-Addo,
Myjoyonline,
*Last Updated: Thursday, 22 July 2010, 15:70 GMT)

I still stand by the following comments:

"After reading the latest feature article on the elusive unity in the party,
The “Rascal Four” Must Be Censured For Crying “Wolf!”, Feature Article of
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame,

I propose the following changes to the Nana Akufo Addo speech:

“I am confident that by the grace of God, and with unity within our ranks,
if you elect me as flag bearer into the 2012 general elections, victory will
come our way as a party,” he said.

Should rather read:

“I am confident that by the grace of God, and with disunity within our
ranks, if you elect me as flag bearer into the 2012 general elections,
failure will come our way as a party.”

There will be time when someone would be regretting the errors, not me, if
no one speaks to people like Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. !

A word to the fool is not enough, but I do not have the time go give more,
please take it or leave it! After all, I am not the one running for office."

The Akyem Mafia may win the NPP Congress by fraudulent means, but that is
where it is all going to end. How do you expect those who feel cheated to
play ball? And where is the "unity within our ranks" going to come from? You
people cannot stop cheating even when the very life of your party is at
stake! Whilst preaching to the NDC about democracy, take a look at the NPP
Congress, where you even need "democracy" in order to win, with the word
stuck in your throats like "Amen" in the throat of Macbeth! Yet it seems
Okoampa is not out of his league! At least, not yet. Who says a fool's
paradise cannot be sweet? Not until he realizes there is going to be a
rejoinder to every single article he writes from now on!

Cheers!
Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!* * **(The original version of this article
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