Opinions of Friday, 14 March 2014

Columnist: Bokor, Michael J. K.

So, who is the NPP’s Akufo-Addo deceiving?

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

My good friends, when the weight of fact-based opinion bears down heavily on self-deception in politics, it is only those who trap themselves in absurdity who will continue to live in darkness.

I have insisted all this while that the NPP's Akufo-Addo cannot bear ceding the NPP's flagbearership to any other candidate for Election 2016. It's a foregone decision that he cunningly hid behind the smokescreen of "the face of God" in pursuit of his grand agenda of manipulating the sentiments of NPP followers. He is reported to have said today that he will make his decision known on March 20. Nothing new to those of us who have seen through that veil of self-deception and won't be surprised at anything coming from him on that date. We are convinced that he will announce his decision to contest Election 2016 on the ticket of the NPP, basing it on such porous claims as his being prevailed upon by the masses to lead the NPP to the elections; or that he has already been well-marketed and can stand a chance of defeating the incumbent (that is, if the NDC puts him up again); or that he is capable of winning the Presidential elections at the third attempt.

And many other reasons that won't be far different from what we have already been constantly given regarding the inadequacies of the NDC administration. We expect the usual litany of complaints but not solutions!

As if not disciplined enough to keep his secret to himself, Akufo-Addo is behaving in such a manner as to take the wind out of his own sail concerning the announcement that he wants to make on March 20 about his political future (as revealed to him by the God of London)!

Here is a clear instance:

"Even before Nana Akufo-Addo officially discloses his political future for the NPP next week, his aide, Mustapha Hamid has said it will be an "intelligent guess" for anybody to conclude that the 2012 NPP flagbearer will contest the 2016 elections.

Akufo-Addo who made a triumphant entry into the Ashanti Regional capital of Kumasi, yesterday, is reported to have, in confidence, told the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II his political future and the Asantehene has given his blessings."

(Source: http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2014/March-12th/you-can-guess-akufo-addo-will-vie-for-npp-flagbearership-mustapha-hamid.php)

So, will there be anything new to expect from Akufo-Addo on March 20? For me, his decision to lead the NPP to Election 2016 won't be anything to enthuse over. What matters is whether Akufo-Addo has added any value to himself to create the impression that he is a better quality material than those who defeated him in previous elections.

From what he has given me to see about him since his sojourn in London and return home, there is nothing new to change my poor opinion of him. I still consider him as not the kind of leader that will outdo anybody. His utterances and public posturing have reinforced my stance that he won't cut butter. If he has anything new with which to appeal to the electorate, let him roll it out and steer clear of the very arid politicking that has doomed him so far.

The rough edges are still visible, and he has a long way to go in attempting to smooth them. Only a person paralyzed by the morbid desire to be a "President-at-all-cost" will not move out to deeper depths when the political pond dries around him; and sooner than later, he turns out to be a helpless fish-out-of-water!!

Only the inevitable occurs, then; and it is nothing but the political death that sets in at this stage. Now in the twilight of his political career, what does Election 2016 hold in store for him?

I shall return…

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