Opinions of Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Columnist: Kwansema, Ekua

Akufo-Addo Still In Dreamland

I have stated time and time again that Akufo-Addo, the 2008 defeated presidential candidate habours the false notion that he is president-in-waiting or at best he was born to be the president of Ghana. Otherwise certain things Akufo-Addo do does not make sense to me and calls into question his ulterior motive and overall judgment.

This man who barricaded himself into his house following his bitter loss of the presidential elections travelled outside the country for which purpose I care less about. But on his return home, Akufo-Addo and his cronies organized supporters of the NPP to give him a rousing welcome at the Kotoka International Airport. A rousing welcome for losing the presidential elections that the NPP put so much stock on? Or a rousing welcome to inform Ghanaians that Akufo-Addo is on course to stand again come 2012?

How Akufo-Addo relish in being accorded such pageantry. How he wish he had won the 2008 elections. How he wish he had returned from his trip as president of Ghana. I bet these and other issues were flowing through the brains of Akufo-Addo when he saw his supporters at the airport. But in this world, wishes alone have never turned into horses for beggars to ride. It takes more than wishes for one to achieve greatness or the heart’s desire.

It is cheap political gambit for a losing presidential candidate to organize his supporters to welcome him back home from his trip abroad. And to make matters worse, some NPP leaders including Dr. Arthur Kennedy are giving Akufo-Addo thumps-up for such cheap political platform. Anyway since the political campaign season is over, this is one of the best ways for Akufo-Addo to continue to be in the limelight.

I have also said in one of my articles that Akufo-Addo does not get certain things in better scope. If he does and he is also able to read the political ballgame well, he should have realized by now that his political days as leader of the NPP are over or at best numbered. Somebody should mark what I am going to write and point it out to me in two years.

The NPP just the Republican Party of the U.S. detest losing candidates. And if there is one candidate that the NPP detest today for losing the presidential elections that the party spent so much on it is Nana Akufo-Addo whose giant billboards still litter the whole of Accra and all the capital cities of the country.

During the run-up for the presidential election I hammered home the point that Akufo-Addo’s assertion that he has fought for Ghanaians and to a large extent the rule of law is not enough to qualify him for the high office of the land. His arrogance and disdain for ordinary people who do not measure up to his educational standard and life experience alone negate all his positives.

If Akufo-Addo’s fight for the rule of law were the only deciding factor then there are other Ghanaians who measure up to the same standard. As a friend of mine use to say “If physical dimensions were the only deciding factors, the elephant would be the undisputed king of the jungle”. But it takes more than physical dimensions, which is why the huge elephant was beaten with the umbrella which saw the elephant running wild back into the jungle to lick his wounds and wounded pride.

Akufo-Addo and the NPP at this point in time should find something better to do than just criticizing President Mills for moving too slow. When Kufour was six years into his presidency the NPP were still asking Ghanaians to give him time to settle down whilst he continued to junket around the globe. The NPP is in disarray. The infighting in the party is about to explode. There are so many factions in the party who do not want to see Akufo-Addo run again let alone be the party’s nominee.

The other day I was talking to one of the NPP big-wigs, who intimated that if Akufo-Addo becomes the party’s nominee in the next presidential elections, the NPP would split into two. That party big-wig concluded by saying that I should mark his words. And I wholly believed him based on my own investigations.

With all what the NPP did to help Akufo-Addo win the presidency but he failed miserably, I do not think he would get the same kind of treatment come 2012. For his information, the NPP is feverishly fishing for a new presidential candidate. And the last time I checked from my sources that man was not Akufo-Addo, therefore, he should wake up from his slumber or dreamland and move on. It is over for him. Finito!

ekwansema@yahoo.com