Some politicians suffer from emotional intelligence disorder, the outcome of which can sometimes lead to avoidable and costly remarks.
It is a trait which has afflicted both dominant parties—National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Unfortunately, politicians in the aforementioned political groupings have hardly learnt from the drawback.
In the NPP currently, as we pointed out in an earlier commentary, a dogfight is on between five contestants vying for the flagbearership of the party.
It is a contest which is testing the emotional intelligence of the contestants.
How each of them will pass this test is a clear determinant of who delegates should vote for. It is interesting and intriguing that all the contestants but one have unwittingly ganged up against the frontrunner.
They have in recent times engaged in ethnic and religious bigotry against the man regarded as the frontrunner.
The NDC is yet to reach the stage where contestants of the position will canvas for votes. For now, it is nothing but a shadowboxing with some party leaders already doing veiled campaigns dubbed “thank you” tours and health walks in communities.
The conduct of party officials go a long way in eating or otherwise at the support base of political parties.
While during the tenure of the NPP, arrogance on the part of some appointees led to apathy during the last elections, the NDC feasted on the growing discontent arising from the misconduct in the camp of their political opponents. Although many of the supporters of the NPP did not vote for the NDC, they nonetheless stayed away from the voting centres.
Today, history is repeating itself as the NDC is going the way of the NPP when the latter was in power.
During a radio interview, a presidential staffer a couple of days ago attracted the ire of discerning supporters of his party and non-NDC residents of Adenta. Even those living outside the Accra suburb were incensed by the reaction of the staffer, Anthony Nukpenu.
Hear him when the issue of bad roads in Adenta was put to him: “If the road is unmotorable, the people should organise themselves and fix it, we like complaining in Ghana too much. Government is now focusing on economic viable roads.”
This party official, who is the ruling party’s Greater Accra Regional Organiser, has not done the NDC brand any good and politics by extension.
Party supporters who worked tooth and nail for the party in the electioneering campaign season would not clap their hands for this man because clearly he has thrown a spanner into the wheels of the party.
He appears to have so soon forgotten about his party’s opposition days and being unmindful about the fallout from his loose talk.
Residents of Adenta move out to various parts of the city to engage in assortment of businesses which add to the Gross Domestic Product. For him to describe roads in Adenta as economically unviable is disingenuous. In any case, we put it to him that roads in every area are not patronised only by residents of the localities.
It is insulting on his part to also say that residents should organise themselves and fix the road. Could he afford to tell Adenta residents during the campaign season? Ghanaians, he added, “complain too much.”
We take exception as do other Ghanaians to this outright case of hubris and disrespect.