There is a popular African proverb which says, “A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches.” It simply means one can easily foresee the future of something through the character and tell-tale signs it exhibits today.
The most poorly kept secret in the camp of the eagle-headed Umbrella is the fact that many party bigwigs do not believe in President Ogwanfunu’s second attempt at the presidential throne. Not even winning the party’s primaries by some 95% could convince the doubting Thomases in their stable. Is it any wonder that the likes of Hon. Alban S. K. Bagbin and Ekow Spio Garbrah are conspicuously missing on the campaign trail?
It is obvious Hon. Bagbin does not want to waste time and resources to campaign for a man he believes has been tainted beyond remedy. Perhaps, listening to him will clear the clouds in your medulla: “He has become a demi-god in the party and so even when he goes wrong and you point it out, you will get his supporters verbally attacking you. The NDC is not John Mahama, and the way some of them are going, I am sad we will be beaten again by the NPP in 2020, with him (John Mahama) as our presidential candidate.”
Call it a prophecy and you may not be far from right. Indeed, we are all witnesses to how people are responding to the uninspiring Zu-za campaign. Mr. Dead-Goat, who used to attract a lot of crowd to his campaign rallies, is now struggling to attract even small crowds.
As for Grandma Jane, the least said about her campaign, the better. We said the late Amissah Arthur did not add to Mr. Dead-Goat’s campaign in 2016. But it is gradually becoming clear that Grandma Jane is worse. Seeing a woman of her stature on video waving at unresponsive crowds and empty streets amply describes the word ’embarrassment’.
People hooting at Zu-za’s campaign vehicles have also become a common sight. The last one I saw was in the Volta Region, their stronghold. Not only did the people hoot at them, but also symbolically swept their footprints and tyre marks with brooms.
With defeat staring Mr. Dead-Goat in the face, it is not surprising to see him blaming the Electoral Commission (EC) for one perceived wrong or another. Indeed, his new mantra is “we will not accept the results of a flawed election.”
Of course, no political party worth its name would accept “flawed” electoral results. I would not accept flawed results too if I were the leader of a political party. And no true lover of democracy would do otherwise.
But does it lie in Mr. Dead-Goat’s mouth to determine which results are “flawed” or not? Or is he, by his unreasonable suspicion of the current EC, indirectly telling us that he and the Charlotte Osei’s EC had a secret pact?
When the Elephant said the 1992 presidential result was a “stolen verdict” and decided to boycott the parliamentary elections, did the EC not move on by conducting the parliamentary polls? So what makes those under the Umbrella think the country will explode when they reject the results of the upcoming 2020 election?
Again, the Elephant resorted to the courts when it disputed the 2012 election results. Though the results were not overturned by the Supreme Court, we all saw the machinations of the Afari Gyan EC – which helped in improving the 2016 polls.
It is obvious to even a political novice that the persistent denigration of the EC’s name by Mr. Dead-Goat and his ilk is only to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it. Elder Kidnapper’s leaked audio and the Umbrella’s belligerent stance on the compilation of a new register had already exposed the plot.
However, this dog will not hang. Yes, the EC is a human institution so it can make mistakes. But no party will be allowed to heap its incompetence and failure at the impending polls on the EC because we all know elections are won or lost at the polling station.
Whatever flaws, real or perceived, that may arise on December 7, Mr. Dead-Goat and his party have only one viable place to seek remedy – the courts. Any other option will lead the Umbrella into the electoral abyss.
It is within its rights for the Umbrella to accept or reject any electoral result. But the country will not be held to ransom because a dead-goat who wants to resurrect by all means.
In the meantime, will someone please tell Mr. Dead-Goat that it is foolhardy on his part to continue dancing ‘Azonto’ while carrying a basketful of eggs? Is Mr. Dead-Goat so desperate for resurrection that he fails to realize he may end up breaking all the eggs in the basket? Gray hair is indeed a sign of age, not wisdom!
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!