In every major political party in Ghana, there has been someone who has actually been the real problem but was not known until after some time.
Who could have said in the middle of the 1950s and 1960s that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the real problem in the Convention Peoples Party? (CPP) That person would have been lynched for saying such a blasphemy. 40 years later, it is very clear that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the real problem in the CPP. I say this because in those days, people worshipped Dr. Nkrumah as a god. People chanted “No Nkrumah, No Vote” and violated the constitution of the CPP, if the violation was to promote the cause of Dr. Nkrumah. People were insulted and beaten if what they did was against the philosophy of Dr. Nkrumah but in favor of the constitution of the CPP. People openly but wrongly supported Dr. Nkrumah if that will help them retain their seats in Parliament.
In effect, if it is not Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, nothing in the CPP moved. After Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the CPP has not won any general elections in Ghana, and the oldest party in Ghana now can boost of only one candidate in Parliament. The CPP after Dr. Nkrumah has been reduced to being a name in the books. They don’t even have enough money to take care of their polling agents in all the constituencies. They hardly organize big rallies and having a united CPP front has also become a problem.
We are all aware that in 1998, at the Sunyani congress, Nana Akufo-Addo when contesting President Agyekum Kuffour for the NPP flag bearership, told the delegates that, a Presidential Candidate of the NPP already has 30% of the valid votes. All what the candidate needs was just 20%+1 and the person is the President of Ghana. He said this so that the delegates will reject Candidate Kuffour and vote for him. Candidate Kuffour was running for that position for the second time. Nana Akufo-Addo has been presented as a Presidential Candidate for the NPP both in 2008 and 2012. In all cases, he failed to get the 20%+1 of the valid votes to become President of Ghana. What happened to the “Nana Philosophy” as he has presented himself again for the third time. If you take cassava to the market to sell and they don’t sell, you don’t bring them back home. You throw them away. Simply put, Nana Addo has expired.
Before the opening of nomination for the 2016 Presidential race for the NPP, few people in Ghana and most people from United Kingdom (UK) came up with the slogan “No Nana, No Vote.” What did that mean and what does that mean now. Only God knows. It is this same UK people who have had elections and declared that Nana Akufo-Addo won by 93% of the valid votes. They are not ashamed to say that the election results in UK will reflect what is yet to come on August 31, 2014. Is it true that Nana didn’t want to contest for 2016 but was imposed on the NPP by this same UK group? Ghanaians beware!
When the 2006 Presidential race began, there were some people who said this about Nana. ‘Y3nim no fri tete” and “aduru Nana so” literally meaning we have known him for a very long time and it is Nana’s time respectively. That signified that all those who contested with Nana Akufo-Addo for the flag bearership, were either strangers or people who had just joined the NPP. And in 2014, when people were campaigning for the National positions, there were those in Nana’s camp who campaigned on the basis that they will bring back Nana and that they could not work with Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong. They said that Mr. Afoko was a drug user and dealer whilst Mr. Agyapong was too gentle to match the “no nonsense” Mr. Asiedu Nketiah. What is the difference between what those who said they could not work with Mr. Afoko and Mr. Agyapong and what the NPP UK has just done? Should Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng wins the flag bearership, would they be able to work with him? When the NPP is in crisis, some people in UK are making things worse for them.
During his campaign launch for the 2016 Presidential race, almost all the NPP Parliamentarians and some party executives went and supported the candidacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. Even though this was a clear violation of the party’s constitution, so long as it was to support Nana’s cause, it was fine. On the other hand, some people in the NPP wanted to kill Chairman Afoko and General Secretary, Agyapong because they think these executive officers are following the NPP constitution to the latter to the detriment of Nana Akufo-Addo. In the NPP now, killing somebody for Nana is fine. “All die be die”
Fellow Ghanaians, can anybody see the similarities in what the “Nkrumaist” did to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP, and what the “Kukruduist” are doing to Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP? Who dare you say that Nana Akufo-Addo is the real problem in the NPP, but he is. I have said it before and I will say it again that Nana Akufo-Addo should have retired from active politics after the 2012 elections to save the NPP from becoming like the CPP. The way the two parties have gone down is the same. Has anybody thought what will happen to the NPP in the likely event that Nana loses the 2016 general elections? And who will be bold enough to support the candidacy of Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng for 2020? This is food for thought.
I am writing this article to help the NPP find a candidate who will help them stay in opposition but become productive and meaningful. Ghana will only move forward if NDC stays in power and a productive and meaningful opposition supports them. America and some of the Western countries have become what they are because they had productive and meaningful opposition parties that supported the ruling government. Ghana can be the same if the NPP will become productive and meaningful in opposition. Ghanaians are sick and tired of the opposition NPP always fighting amongst themselves. If they fight amongst themselves whilst in opposition, what will they do to the rest of Ghanaians if they come to power? Maybe a civil war. This, Ghanaians will vote against in 2016.

Lawrence Appiah-Osei (Protocol)
Public Relations Officer (PRO)
NDC Washington Metro Branch
Appiah65@Hotmail.com