The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in the eye of the storm because of its internal contest.
While some are using the platform to energise the rank and file of the party to ‘break the eight’ during the 2024 general election, others have reduced it to the “world cup” which they must win at all cost.
Since the party leadership announced the time table for the internal contest, first for the August 26, special delegates’ conference to separate the “men from the boys”, the unity in the party appears to be under siege.
The outcome of the special delegates’ conference did not sit well with some of the candidates, notable among them being Alan Kyerematen who jumped the ship to form his “Butterfly Movement” while Boakye Agyarko decided not to contest the tie breaker citing his disagreements with the arrangements.
Even as some decided to turn their back towards the party, they never missed the opportunity to criticise the Akufo-Addo government in their typical unsportsmanlike behaviour of “if you miss the ball don’t miss the man” to spoil the goal attempt by the NPP team.
We also find it odd that some of the candidates for the November 4 “showdown” demonstrate a determination to lead the party but are of the view that currently the NPP is not attractive because of the economic challenges.
We wonder why such personalities are still in the race to lead the party. It appears such people have an agenda, but they must be told that the rank and file are very discerning now and would make the decisive choice come Saturday, November 4 based on the capability of the flagbearer.
We do not want to buy into the conspiracy theory that some leading members do not want the progress of the party for personal reasons. Internal democracy is one of the key drivers for expanding the frontiers of multi-party democracy, and the contest only provides the opportunity for candidates to tell the delegates what they have under their sleeves to help the party to ‘break the eight’.
The ethos of democratic practice demands respect for the rules, especially when the majority always carries the day no matter how one disagrees with them. What is important here is for the ground rules to be stated clearly to guarantee a free, fair and transparent contest.
The geographical origin and duration of the person do not matter so long as the candidate meets the requirements for the contest. When some people engage in tribal bigotry to win favours from delegates, we must all be concerned because Ghana has one big destiny that we must promote.
There are those who proclaim the Ghana first agenda, but deliberately play the tribal card and thus ruin their dignity as presidential material.