By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Monday, November 2, 2015

Folks, I have said it several times—and will continue to say it till I drop down dead—that the NPP endangers Ghana’s democracy more than the NDC or any other political front does. I will reiterate my stance and back it up with facts that the “Mate Me Ho” political culture is an anathema to Ghanaian politics. Here is one political tradition that doesn’t see anything good in others and insists on having its way even when the reality of the situation proves it wrong.
If you doubt my claim, just take a quick tour of Ghana’s political landscape in the pre-independence era and what followed till then. Lovers of pre-independence Ghanaian politics know how the reactionary forces in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) would band together to oppose the progressive moves by the Great Osagyefo and his CPP to make Ghana come into its own. The circumstances that made Nkrumah triumph over them were the same that made them lose grounds to the PNP and the Rawlings Phenomenon. And will be the same till a miracle happens to change the situation.
They should be thankful to the forces of reason in the minority political parties that helped them return to power in 2000 and to retain Kufuor over the 8-year period that he presided over an NPP-led administration. But that goodwill is all gone to the winds, blown away by the political immaturity, negative traits of personal character, and plain unattractiveness on the part of rampaging political bull (Akufo-Addo) who took over from Kufuor!!
More than anything else, the NPP is today a political force that is engaged in a futile struggle with itself more than with its nemesis, the NDC. And much of what is negating its relevance is self-grown. It is within the party and is the very canker that is chewing it up and will cause its doom. No need to expatiate except to say that the internal wrangling now destabilizing the NPP is the ultimate outcome of the irresistible tendency on the part of those who think they matter more than all others to call the shots.
And their shots aren’t power-winning shots but self-destructive, ill-considered manouevres to boost the personal ego precipitating political (mis)adventures of the Akufo-Addos. Simply put, the NPP is at the crossroads because that is where its Akufo-Addo wants it to be.
Circumventing the crossroads isn’t easy, not because there is no way to do so but because those leading the party aren’t savvy enough to do so. That is why they are insisting on anachronistic measures, focusing on scare-mongering and beating the war drum in the deceived expectation that Ghanaians will bow to their pressure to do their bidding. False hopes of this sort lead to nothing but political defeat. And the defeated one constructs everything around violence to seek revenge. It won't work.
And from the public utterances of the leading figures misdirecting the NPP and mismanaging its affairs, there is only one conclusion to draw: that they will continue to run around in circles and lose traction. From what has ensued so far, I am more than convinced that the NPP’s recourse to scare-mongering is its last kick in its electoral death throes.
As the events at the just-ended national forum on the voters register indicate, a decision to retain the current register subject to thorough cleansing/cleaning will put the final nail in its coffin of self-destruction. The party’s insistence on getting a new register—short of which there will be violence in Ghana—and its leaders’ outreach to the international community on that score won’t turn anybody’s crank.
It has no campaign message for the electorate to win their support. Its only trump-card is beating the war drum, which will doom it all the more. By beating the war drum, they have unwittingly played themselves into the hands of the NDC that will propagate a message of peace, national security and stability to win the hearts of voters. Who wants war when every opportunity exists to continue enjoying peace in the country?
Within this context, isn’t it fair and proper to say that the NPP people have paralyzed themselves?
Folks, I am putting together my thoughts for a more comprehensive analysis of the situation to suggest that the NPP’s woes will worsen. Already, we can tell from what has unfolded so far that it is spreading itself too thin and risking slipping into the quicksand in front of it.
And much of that quicksand is constituted by lackeys in the mass media who go abroad with anything coming from the NPP to create the misguided impression that the party is on track. It is clear from the vociferous iterations by Kweku Baako and all others singing the cacophonous tune of Akufo-Addo that the NPP people are deceived that capturing the media scene means making a headway in public outreach toward a successful Election 2016.
It is not, apparently because the public already know what they need to know about the NPP and its Akufo-Addo. Thus, the more the media lackeys talk or write, the more they open up Akufo-Addo to scrutiny and political surgery. And his fat underbelly is already out there to be poked, jabbed, and opened up for the effluent. What more can these people do to endanger themselves?
We now know why the NPP leaders’ appetite for political power exceeds their capacity to hold their party together for Election 2016. Such a sickening appetite destroys; it won’t build anything for Mother Ghana.
I shall return…
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