It happened to the New Patriotic Party in the run-up to the 2008 General Election. President Agyekum Kufuor and his government had performed so well that, the party thought if even a lizard is made the flagbearer of the party, it will carry the day. It is not for me to continue to write about the sterling performance of the Gentle Giant and his team, because we are all living witnesses to the story, a story which will forever stay in our collective memory. That was how come as many as seventeen party stalwarts contested to become the flagbearer of the party. Becoming a flagbeaerer then was like being elected as a Parliamentary Candidate for Bantama in the Ashanti Region. You are bound to be a parliamentarian if you are a candidate for the NPP in Bantama constituency, a stronghold of the NPP in the Ashanti Region.
Before Mr. Kufuor left office, he had warned the party that elections are won at the polling stations so the party must focus on that area. The leadership of the party did not pay attention to the admonition of the outgoing President, and as such went about doing things as usual. The swan song in those days was “Yawie Bibiara” (We have finished everything). Supporters of the party became swollen-headed and thought Ghanaians will never forget the sweet goodies poured into their mouths by the Kufuor-led administration. The party paid dearly when they became complacent and allowed the opposition NDC to hoodwink the good people of Ghana. Professor Mills won the 2008 election with a slim margin. The truth is that if the leadership of the NPP had paid heed to the admonition of Mr. Kufuor, the results would have been different. The universal adjective for this scenario is ‘complacent’.
Clearly, the 2012 election too was a stolen verdict, but for the sake of peace, the NPP accepted the decision of the Supreme Court and moved forward. In 2016 the NPP leadership learnt their lessons well, and so the polling stations were manned by undergraduates, graduates, business men and women, medical doctors, seasoned politicians, lawyers, among others. It was not for nothing that the results of that year’s election tilted heavily in favor of the NPP. Candidate Akufo-Addo won by a huge margin of more than one million votes, the first of its kind in the history of presidential elections in this forth republic dispensation. During the 2020 General Election, the NPP repeated the dosage by putting well qualified men and women at the polling stations. They did not leave anything to chance, and so candidate Akufo Addo won again. When Mr. Mahama took the matter to the Supreme Court, a unanimous decision threw his petition away. A bruised Mahama described the decision of the Supreme Court as travesty of justice, as if all the nine Supreme Court judges who sat on the petition were dunderheads. He has since, shamelessly, refused to accept defeat, and never has he congratulated President Akufo Addo. He still walks tall with the ‘President Elect’ tag firmly fixed on his broad chest.
Today, the party seems to be walking backwards to grab what was discarded in 2008. A party which was once led by an imminent historian in the person of the late Professor Adu Boahen has refused to look back like the way historians do in order not to fall in a pit. The recent protests during the elections of polling station executives speak volumes of what will happen to the party, come the 2024 General Elections, if things are not addressed immediately. What is more worrisome is that in order to be given the nod when the constituency executives election is opened, some outgoing constituency executive members hijacked the process of electing polling station executive members, and did make aspirants suspected to be against them difficult to get nomination forms. This led to protests and court cases across the length and breadth of the country, with some disgruntled members threatening to campaign against the party, come 2024. In their desperation to get elected again, some constituency executives distributed nomination forms to persons who cannot read or right. That is the problem. What is going to happen is that when nomination is opened for the constituency executives’ elections, the situation will be uncontrollable. What we witnessed during the polling station executives elections will be a child’s play. Information gathered by this writer is that some aspirants to the national positions collaborated with the outgoing constituency executive members to disenfranchise people they suspected to be against them.
The issue of ‘moneycracy’, which nearly destroyed the party, has again raised its ugly head. This was a canker which played key role in the 2008 primaries and if care is not taken, it will be the party’s Achilles’ Heels again. When the party decided to expand the Electoral College, the main aim was to do away with the devil called ‘Moneycracy’, but sadly, the idea fell into the blue sea. Aspirants found a new way of bribing delegates anytime there was an internal election. The party did not use money to snatch power from the firm grip of the NDC in 2000.The watch words were hard work, dedication and servitude. People sacrificed to bring the party this far.
Rawlings had ruled with iron hands as a military dictator from 1981 to 1992 unchallenged. He shed his military uniform, donned civilian cloths, and forcefully and dubiously won two terms from 1992 to 2000. Nobody can convince me that the (P)NDC was not rich. Even when Rawlings was democratically elected as president of Ghana, he still had his private army, the Commandos, solidly behind him. In 2000, the NPP had no money, haven been in opposition since Professor Busia was overthrown by the Abongo Boys in 1972. Led by Mr. Agyekum Kufuor, the NPP knew their shortcomings, as far as financing the party was concerned. Supporters of the party also knew the position of the party, and so went about campaigning with empty stomachs. In the face of unprovoked violence and obstreperous bullying, the NPP went ahead to win the elections. So why ‘moneycracy’ today? The 2024 election is going to be a fight between the truth and propaganda, and God is not neutral between the two. I rest my case for now. I know what you are expecting from me. I am on my way to my farm, with a stick of God of Fire cigar, firmly fixed between my lips.
By Eric Bawah