“Dzogbese Lisa has treated me thus
It has led me among the sharps of the forest,
Returning is not possible and going forward is a great difficulty.
The affairs of this world is like chameleon faeces, into which I have stepped.
When I clean, it cannot go” – Prof. Kofi Awoonor
THIS POEM by my mentor, lecturer and role model, the late Professor Kofi Awoonor is meant for Mr. Asiedu Nketia, the Chairman of the NDC and Felix Ofosu Kwakye, the Abakrampa Goebbels. The replacement of Hon. Haruna Iddrisu and Hon. Muntaka Mohamed, both Dagombas and Muslims as well from the Northern Region as Minority Leader and Chief Whip, will not have been a big deal. What has made it a big deal is that these two Muslims have been replaced by two Christians. And the way the NDC apparatchiks, led by Mr. Big Mouth, Ofosu Kwakye, said about the NPP and the alleged bad treatment the party gives to northerners makes the replacement questionable. They say what goes around comes around and if you throw a ball against a wall, it comes back to you. How will Abakrampa Goebbels do the damage control for his party, now that two northerners who diligently played very active and important roles in Parliament for the party has been axed in a palace coup? When the NPP suspended Paul Afoko, Sammy Crabbe and Kwabena Agyapong, there was no demonstration, the destruction of party offices, violence and the threat of mayhem. But when the NDC removed Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka, look at what is happening in Tamale and other towns. No wonder, Mr. Mahama told Ghanaians that when it comes to unleashing violence, no one could beat the NDC because they have revolutionary routs. Nkwaseasem! Where was Mahama when the guns were booming in 1981 and women were stripped naked in public and whipped in-between their thighs while respected chiefs and self-made men were drilled and received dirty slaps in public by unruly soldiers? Is he reminding us of our sordid past to rake our wounds? Akoa wei paa!
In the run-up to the 2016 General Election, something happened within the NPP which led to the suspension of Messrs Paul Afoko, the National Chairman of the party, Sammy Crabbe, the First Vice Chairman and Kwabena Agyapong, the General Secretary. The NDC went to town to make it look as if it was the worst thing that ever happened in the political history of Ghana. They forgot about the beating up of Vice President Ekow Nkensen Arkaah at a Cabinet meeting by Rawlings. Some of us used to put off our televisions sets anytime the Abakrampa Goebbels came on air because anytime any topic was put on air for discussion, Mr. Ofosu Kwakye will veer off the lane to take on the NPP for suspending the three gentlemen, particularly, Mr. Paul Afoko. To him, the NPP did not like Northerners because they suspended Paul Afoko. Mr. Mahama joined the clamorous choir by accusing candidate Akufo Addo as autocratic, knowing very well that the decision was taken by the National Executive Council of the NPP but not Nana Akufo-Addo alone as a flagbearer of the party. He called on Ghanaians to reject Nana because he could not even keep his house in order. He referred to Lawyer Freddy Blay, who took over from Paul Afoko as “Opana” and ungentlemanly ridiculed the astute lawyer on political platforms during his campaign for simply accepting the challenge when the NPP seemed to be in crisis.
I am not a soothsayer, neither am I am a prophet. In fact, I do not even believe in horoscope. What I have, which is more potent than what I mentioned is my Crystal Ball. Anytime I look into my Crystal Ball, I foresee what is going to happen and it comes to pass. Last week, I wrote that Asiedu Nketia has planted dragon teeth at the backyard of the NDC and the dragon teeth will one day sprint into an army of warriors which will fight each other until their number diminishes. The planted dragon teeth have already started to sprint up. An old man in my village once told me that mosquito bite is not as painful as the noise it makes in your ears in the night when you are asleep.
The sacking of Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, and Hon. Muntaka Mohammed, both northerners from Dagbon, from their leadership positions in Parliament has become the dragon teeth planted by Asiedu Nketia. It has created confusion, violence and too much cacophonous noises in the party. It has raised the issue of tribalism in the party to a higher level. So, returning is not possible and going forward is a great difficulty. Asiedu Nketia has stepped into chameleon faeces. When he cleans, it cannot go. If he rescinds his decision it will be defeatist on his part and if he maintains the decision, it will be politically suicidal.
It has now dawned on northerners in the NDC that after all, when it comes to a party that loves the northerners, it is the New Patriotic Party. The Communist propaganda tactics which the leadership of the NDC used to poison the minds of the northerners and those living in the Zongos that the NPP doesn’t like anti-northerners has been diluted. When ex-president Kufuor won the NPP Presidential Primaries at the Sunyani Congress in 1998, he chose Alhaji Aliu Mahama, a relatively unknown gentleman from the Northern Region and a Muslim for that matter as his Running Mate. The tongues of NPP top men who did not understand Mr. Kufuor started wagging. Mr. Kufuor stood his grounds because he knew what he was doing. At the end of the day, the NPP won the General Election with Alhaji Aliu Mahama becoming the first Muslim in Ghana to swear with the Holy Quran to Ghanaians when he took the Oath of Office as the Vice President of Ghana. It was history made in broad daylight. In the 2000 General Election, votes garnered by the NPP in the Northern Region appreciated considerably and the issue of the NPP being an Akan party started to whittle away.
Enter Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. He also followed the footsteps of his predecessor, Mr. Kufuor and chose Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, another relatively unknown politician and a Muslim from the Northern Region as his Running Mate and once again, the NPP eventually won the elations. And once again a Muslim held the Holy Quran to swear the Oath of Office as the Vice President of Ghana. In fact, this time around, the votes garnered by the NPP from the Northern and Upper Regions improved dramatically. That was when the NDC sensed danger. They tried desperately to find faults with the economic whiz-kid but much as they tried, they could not get anything against the meek, mild and gentle Vice President. History repeated itself one more time. People from the Northern and Upper Regions have seen the light and fear is written on the faces of the NDC apparatchiks who have expended their ammunitions in their propaganda war to knock the heads of the people from the Northern Regions and the Zongos against that of the NPP. God is Great!
The gospel truth is that the Rawlings era NDC is dead and buried in the same grave that they buried Rawlings. The ghost of Rawlings is haunting Asiedu Nketia because of the way he shabbily treated the founder of the NDC. So, the people from the Northern regions who used to love the NDC because of the love they have for J.J. Rawlings should begin revising their notes. A new vicious and vindictive NDC, led by Asiedu Nketia, which is poised to sideline the northerners is born. A new Pharaoh has come to Egypt in the person of Asiedu Nketia, who doesn’t know Joseph. So the Israelis will suffer. And like the Israelis, supporters of the NDC in the northern regions will also suffer. They have started with Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka. Who knows where the moving violation will stop next? Asem beba dabi.
BY Eric Bawah