Who does the cap fit in the NPP Presidential Race

In the advanced democracies there are usually three types of leaders: those who fail and those who get out in time before they fail. The third are the visionaries who come to win and change the status quo. Most of the time, the only way to check whether a leader has failed his people or won their admiration, is to assess him backwards, judging his achievements in the light of past deeds and mistakes. As Tony Blair, Britain’s Prime Minister, bowed out of office last month, sections of the British media assessed his ten year stewardship of Britain in the light of a vibrant economy and a terrible war in Iraq that is killing thousands. A columnist of the Observer, Andrew Rawnsley, wrote that Mr. Blair was fantastic at the politics of spin, but less accomplished at the art of governance.

In Africa and most parts of the developing world, there are also three types of politicians: those who come to correct their predecessor’s failures, those who shouldn’t have failed, and those who do not care about winning or failing, because the difference between the two is like choosing between cholera and diarrheoa: either way a metabolic insurrection causes a ‘running stomach.’ So, if we were to assess President J.A Kuffour backwards, we would be doing so in the light of good efforts at resuscitating a moribund economy, absolute freedom of expression and the misfortune at the Akosombo power dam.

Even if J.A. Kuffour made a paradise out of Ghana, the ungrateful side of democracy would have seen him leaving the political stage for a new leader. For, that is how the rules of democracy play out in the game of politics. Soon, the NPP would choose a new face to front the party in the 2008 presidential elections. You would tire in counting if you have to list the number of gentlemen seeking to win the party’s flagbearership race. There are no septuagenarians in the contest, but there are unrepentant political dinosaurs that have nursed and nurtured their presidential ambitions for so long. There are minister-aspirants, a term coined by the Statesman, and diaspora-aspirants, my creation: those good brains who were living outside of Ghana prior to the declaration of interest in the top job. There are also rebel-aspirants: the group who declared their presidential bid after they were booted out of government by President Kuffour.

Needless to say, all the gentlemen in the NPP flagbearerhip election are, or at least, appear capable of leading a group of people, even though you wonder why most of them bothered to make the bid in the first place. Their audacity does not necessarily make the office of the president appear less important; in a more audacious sense, it seeks to ask the very important question: who has what it takes to be president?

The qualities of leadership, you would agree, are so subtle that it is very difficult to describe all of them in a coherent narrative, but they are quite easy to experience. Some characters appear so promising for leadership until they take the deep plunge into the murky waters of political management. Their actions and inactions become barometers by which people judge their performance, and sometimes they are a big let down. After impatiently waiting and pushing from the wings for ten years for the Labour Party leadership, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, made a surprising political farce of himself when he floundered badly at his first Prime Minister’s Question Time. Political commentators wondered whether the ten years he spent at the Chancery, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer had adequately prepared him for the top political post. So, the aspirants in the NPP presidential race who have for long trumpeted their presidential dreams into our ears, should be appreciated as virgins who are yet to experience any political intercourse. A successful minister of state would not necessarily make a successful president. In this NPP leadership election, it would be important to jettison tradition and expediency in choosing the best material for Ghana.

Who is the best material among the nearly twenty candidates that we have? It is not very easy to pick and choose, especially, when you are spoilt for choice. And a prospect is not the best until he is tried and proven to be. So, let’s limit our search to the potential that the prospects promise. How does candidate Boakye Kyeremanteng Agyarko strike you? He is been compared with Democrat presidential aspirant Barack Obama, because of his masterful grasp of issues and the charisma he wields. He is a bit of an enigma and a rare breed, just like the Illinois senator. He has a very simple exterior but the potential in him is bulky.

But who exactly is Boakye Kyeremanteng Agyarko? He would not come across as a political generalissimo in Ghanaian politics, but those who have followed his politics since the formation of the NPP know his worth. He is a fine liberal steeped in the Danquah-Busia tradition, and he wears those liberal principles on his sleeves. He hasn’t held a ministerial portfolio in the NPP government, but he has kept absolute faith with the Kuffour administration, building and sustaining the party’s support base in North America, where he had been working as a high-flying banker of repute. Over the years, he has showed incredible commitment to the party, and now wants to lead it to victory in the 2008 presidential elections.

The most important question the electorate seeks to answer in any electioneering process is what makes them prefer a particular candidate to others. In a sense Boakye Agyarko belongs to the category of presidential candidates dubbed the diaspora-aspirants, but his extremely successful sojourn in America, which had been occasioned by unfortunate political events in Ghana sets him apart as a peculiar case. For, he had survived the most atrocious form of vigilantism when he was rescued from the throes of death prior to burial. Unlike the economic fortune seekers, his American experience was a venture that was to see him heal wounds and build political capital, to correct a system that today is receiving some steady correction from the Kufour administration. So, he believes in the Kufour government, and wants to continue the good work in a serving capacity.

Contrary to what his detractors may be saying, Boakye Agyarko is not a politician from the diaspora. For, he has been part of the NPP machine for so long, helping where help is due and advising where strategy is key. Insiders know that he hasn’t come down from the political wilderness professing messianic redemption at the last hour; he has endured the political weariness with them and suffered all the associated fatigues as a true patriot. He is a fine model who has paid his dues to the common cause over time, and he has not faltered anywhere in between time. Even as key player saddled with great responsibilities at the Bank of New York, he found time to contribute to the socio-political discourse in Ghana by writing a weekly column in the Statesman newspaper for many years.

Even so, the crucial question NPP congressmen would want to ask in December is why Boakye Agyarko should lead the party this time. That would be easier if congress consider the challenges ahead of Ghana as a country above the constituencies other aspirants command within the party. For, that is the bigger picture that the electorate eventually would be looking at. The person who can deliver quality leadership to solve the numerous problems is the leader Ghana would be looking for in 2008, not the well known or the well liked.

Candidate Agyarko’s wide appeal as a neutral candidate with no serious ideological baggage makes him less of a political gamble. Most of the aspirants have suffered trust and intra-party relationship problems. Others have had questions to answer over their management of their portfolios and have had doubts hanging over their leadership bid for so long. But, these do not necessarily give Agyarko an urge over other hopefuls; he would have to show why he is a better manager than other aspirants. He would have to demonstrate how he would deal with the day to day economic issues from a political standpoint. He would need to be show how well he has prepared himself for the task.

Boakye Agyarko has been preparing very well for the presidency since the NPP tradition became accepted to Ghanaians. So far, it has showed in his excellent analysis of issues and his understanding of the feelings and aspirations of the average Ghanaian. His tours in the regions of Ghana and the press conferences he has held have already exposed his rare leadership qualities to political connoisseurs and the media fraternity. His activities in the West seem to have favourably informed his appreciation of the dynamics of modern African politics. And he knows how best to deal with the West to get results, having gained tremendous experience through the management of the financial resources of most developing countries in South America. This has made him an effective negotiator, because he knows Bretton Woods through and through.

As it expected, there would be presidential debates when the aspirants officially launch their flagbearership campaigns. Those who have witnessed Agyarko’s power of delivery and brilliance are looking forward to such debates, where the gentlemen will grapple with the issues of the day in a question and answer showdown. This time, there is no Dan Lartey, so it is not envisaged that any aspirant would have the liberty to ask for a repeat of a question, and goof in the answering thereafter.

The NPP needs the best candidate to lead it to victory in 2008. Ultimately, the choice of the flagbearer is not just the party’s responsibility; it is the duty of good and honest judgment.