A Leaf That Doesn’t Know It Is Part Of A Tree
Sometimes we are so overzealous to become successful in our endeavors that we forget about what is significant and inure to the benefit of our family as a whole. We refuse to accept the fact that the background of success should include intrinsic values. Only fools don’t consider this simple sense. If I sound tough and snobbish today, I am.
I have been consistently writing in this column that I am not a historian but I just admire historians. One interesting thing about history is that it will lead us to seeing that we are all a part of it. History is not just in the past. It is happening now. How can you know that you are part of history if you don’t know what it is to begin with? The world didn’t start with your birth, and surely it will not end with your death either. That doesn’t mean you are not part of the scheme of things. Logic? No, common sense which is not common, anyway.
Today, I have loaded my AK 47 Assault Rifle and I am going to aim it at supporters of the ten NPP Presidential aspirants, firing salvos at random. Those who have weak hearts to withstand the truth should not read beyond this line because I am going to town. I know my cherish readers understand when I say I am going to town.
In fact, I am going to wear my shining armour of confrontational discourse and swag with professorial bombast. Last week I wrote extensively about some of the aspirants who are muddying the waters. I did not name and shame because this is not the time to dance Calypso or chachacha. This is the time to dance Kpolomashie. A word to the wise, they say is enough.
Some of the comments of supporters of the candidates are simply vexation to the spirit and begs for condemnation. There are several battles to be won and lost before the war. In modern warfare, only Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) can guarantee a one-time victory. The NPP is at war against a common ruthless enemy. But can a divided army ever win a war?
It seems to me some of the supporters are not aware of the importance of the 2024 General Election. In fact, they even don’t understand the: “Breaking The 8” mantra.
Many of them are just ‘follow, follow’ supporters looking for money and favour from the aspirants. They don’t care a hoot about the fortunes of the party.
That is why they are falling head over heels to impress aspirants whenever they visit their constituencies. We all have aspirants that we support irrespective of one’s political leanings. Who says some NDC supporters don’t support one candidate or the other among the ten aspirants? Some have relatives among the ten aspirants. Go to the Zongos and hear the utterances of some NDC die in the wool supporters. That is why they say blood is thicker than water. But if an NPP supporter of one candidate tries to ditch other candidates that is worrisome. For now they think they are doing something to please their chosen candidates but because of the way they go about things, they are causing collateral damage to the whole family of NPP thereby dwindling the electoral fortunes of the party.
I sincerely do understand those supporters of the aspirants when they try to be pragmatic positive thinkers. But when I hear people saying that anything you want to do is possible, that to me seems childish. Some things are simply not going to happen. For example, If I suddenly decided tomorrow at my ripe age that I wanted to play football like Christian Ronaldo, and I am sure that I could because I was positive about it, I think I have to have some mental check. It is like the cripple saying he wants to run like Usain Bolt. It is not going to happen no matter how hard he trains, that is if he can train at all.
The gospel truth is that some of the aspirants are not going to win and they themselves know pretty well that they are fighting a losing battle. They know if they contest and lose they have the chance of being appointed as ministers like what President Kufuor did to his fellow contestants when he held the reins of power. If you support such aspirants you must weigh your words well when you go out there to campaign for him because at the end of the day you have no alternative but to campaign for the winner for the ultimate trophy. As a leaf, you are part of the tree. Like an apple or orange, you will not fall far from the tree.
Supporters who are threatening to go along with their aspirants to form their own political party if he loses, should be guarded by past experience. They do so at their own peril because greater number of the NPP supporters will disown them. Dr. Charlse Wereko Brobbey resigned from the NPP and formed his own party but he failed badly. He is now history as far as politics in Ghana is concerned. When Mr. Alan Kyermanteng resigned from the NPP in the run-up to the 2008 General Election, citing the maltreatment of his supporters after the Primaries, it destroyed the fortune of the party.
Even though he later returned to the fold, the NDC capitalized on the resignation of Alan Kyeremanteng to win the election. When Nana Akufo-Addo eventually won the 2016 Presidential Election, Alan Kyeremanteng was the first person to be appointed as the Minister of Trade and Industry. In fact, Nana Addo had promised to appoint him as the Minister of Trade and Industry during the electioneering campaign. Where were those who were urging him to resign from the party? Were they given any portfolio? People must rethink because once bitten, twice shy.
From Eric Bawah