Kennedy Agyapong
Politics will continue to be relevant to the people if those involved make it issue-based, while those who make allegations against others must be ready to provide the evidence.
Already the naysayers have pressed the panic button prophesising that the steps being taken by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) leadership to get Kennedy Agyapong to explain his “showdown” mantra is an attempt to intimidate him.
And these claims are being made by some very senior members of academia and a section of the media who by their reportage have demonstrated to be “enemies” of the NPP. If that were not the case, why will certain media houses and some members of academia be in cahoots with the NDC to downplay the successful and generally peaceful special delegates’ conference last Saturday?
This must tell the NPP to gird its loins to face the forces of opposition that will come their way in an attempt to break the eight.
We have no doubt in our mind that the aspirants who went into the contest last Saturday genuinely love the NPP and they will not do anything to undermine unity and hurt the party’s fortunes in 2024, despite their utterances and that of followers.
In spite of the outcome of last Saturday’s conference, the NPP must quickly rally to ensure all hands on deck for the resounding victory.
We expect all the candidates to be extending the olive branch to each other so that their teeming supporters will come together to campaign for the party to make history in 2024.
The good news is that Vice President Dr. Bawumia set the tone and demonstrated leadership by stressing unity in any electoral contest.
It is pathetic that after the declaration of the results of last Saturday’s conference, some of the aspirants are still in denial instead of returning to the drawing board to fashion out new strategies and avoid the use of intemperate language as the aspirants prepare for the November 4 congress.
Our elders say a baby who will take the path to royalty is spotted on the day of his or her birth. So Dr. Bawumia exhibited that last Saturday when he engaged the media to react to his landslide victory. In spite of the smear campaign against him during the run-up to the delegates’ conference last Saturday, he nonetheless called for unity among the rank and file of the party going forward in order to ‘break the eight’.
He specifically called for unity among the presidential aspirants even in competition so that at the end of the contest the party can rally everyone for the “coup de grace.”
As seasoned politicians, they know that division in their ranks will not help them win power but drive the party into opposition.
We appeal to the aspirants to focus on the ultimate of ‘breaking the eight’ and avoid scoring own goals on their turf, but tap into their expertise to make Ghana the best place to live.
Furthermore, we urge the aspirants to recognise that the only way they can be relevant in the campaign leading to November 4 and beyond is to focus on their strategies, messages and platforms, but not personal attacks that some of the candidates and or their team members exhibited prior to the August 26 contest.
We demonstrate our scorn for candidates who are turning away from the record of the Akufo-Addo administration. Regardless of the challenges, the government has chalked up numerous successes that the candidates can package well and sell to the electorate, majority of whom know the NDC is a dangerous alternative.
Breaking the eight is possible through hard work but not turning our back to the Nana Akufo-Addo legacy. The party should admit the difficulties like President Akufo-Addo did last Thursday, and tell Ghanaians how it hopes to turn things around for the better when it ‘breaks the eight’.