In my last article “Living with Strangers” I urged the NPP to concentrate on strengthening its structures at the Polling Stations and prepare the Party for 2020 elections instead of meeting the diversionary criticisms of some “strangers” in the land. What took place in Kumasi was one such effort towards the achievement of that objective and once again the Party exhibited its qualities in organizing such peaceful meetings, unlike the one in Koforidua organized sometime ago by the “strangers” where horse whips were used on delegates.
The Region chosen for the Conference was ideal, the venue had enough space for the delegates and presented few security challenges for security agencies. The tentage provided was spacious with adequate ventilationfor the seven thousand delegates including invited guests and helped reduce the heat related health hazards. Security provided on the average was good and ensured safety for all participants.
However, the laissez faire attitude of some of the Policemen on duty did not credit the force with any sense of professionalism especially those on duty found in amorous conversations with “protocol” ladies who rendered various services to participants. Mobile phones are essential communication tools in modern living and its use will continue to increase. However, the use of the equipment by Security personnel on duty needs to be controlled because mobile phone serves as distraction, an impediment and serious obstruction to duty and Commanders of Security Services must find solutions to this serious addiction.The conduct and behavior of the Party Security elements (Delta Forces, Invincibles etc) who collaborated with the Police on duty was commendable and I will not comment further because I have expressed my views on the subject in an earlier write up.
This Conference was supposed to amend the Party’s Constitution to make it flexible and effective in managing the Elephant Party. For example, when the Party’s General Secretary, the Chairman and some others were found to have flouted the Party’s constitution thus militating against the interests and progress of the Party, the provisions in the Party’s Constitution were found short of addressing the issues at stake. Secondly, the problem of compiling credible Polling Stations’ albums which has been the major underlying cause of disturbances in the Party during internal elections of Parliamentary Candidates needed effective provisions in the Constitution to address the issue.
The earlier attempt made last year in Cape Coast, was suspended by the President because of inadequate preparations. The preparations envisaged the provision of all proposed amendments to delegates, the rationale behind them and the grant of sufficient time for Constituencies to digest the implications of the proposals. At the Conference, it became obvious that some of the amendments proposed were new to some delegates.
The mode of assessing the wishes of delegates for each proposed amendment was a bit doubtful and I think the adoption of the Parliamentary system of voting ‘ayes’ and ‘nays’ was not the best.The environment was completely different because Parliament is made up of only Parliamentarians whilst the Conference consisted of delegates and over one thousand invited guests all seated at the same platform. Consequently, the“ayes” and “nays”at the Conference were seriously adulterated and did not reflect the true feelings of the delegates. Secondly, the 87 motions to be adopted were too many and without withdrawals and cancellations of some of them, the Conference would have closed very late in the night. Thirdly, too many amendments were sponsored by theParliamentary Group. Of the 87 motions, the Parliamentary Group proposed – 57 followed by the Constitutional Legal Committee -12, Individual proposals -11 and the Diasporas from the USA -7. The sheer number of proposals by the Parliamentary Group unfortunately created the wrong impression among many delegates that the MPs were seekingto protect their seats especially the proposal that sought to seek authorization for them to choose polling station executives. Consequently, most delegates armed themselves to vote the MPs’ proposals out, whether good or bad.
The most unfortunate thing that happened was the inclusion of three controversial proposals which had generated heated debates among delegates and contributed to Cape Coast’s fiasco. To retain themfor the Conference in Kumasi sought to suggest (cunningly), a Presidential acquiescence. The President at the beginning of his address to the conference did not hesitate to point out his objection to the three but nailed them to the dustbin where they rightly belong and the President’s action helped calm down the tempers of most delegates. The controversial proposals were a ban on members with dual citizenship to contest and hold Party Office, the MPs to have the sole authority to select Polling Station executives and the President and flag bearer as the leader of the Party.
How could any true democrat propose the banning of Ghanaians with dual citizenship from contesting and holding party office or grant MPs the right to choose their own polling station executives? For MPs to choose their own polling executives would have meant sowing the seed of sycophancy and autocracy within a party which claims to be a true democratic party.As regards the third proposal of making the President the leader of the party, it is difficult to comprehend the rationale behind it because this is not the first time the proposal had been shot down. The proposal first emerged at the National Executive meeting after President Kufuor’s election and it was shot down by late RR Amponsah, da Rocha of blessed memory, our current President and many other gurus of the party. This proposal sought to place the powers of the party and the State in the hands of one man and should not be countenanced by true democrats in spite of few positive advantages.
The number of motions that were withdrawn or cancelled during the Conference suggested that enough preparations, consultations or homework were not done. To include proposals that have not been passed by the Constitutional Legal Committee really beats my imagination. I find some of the motions that were not carried as very unfortunate because they were misunderstood and I think some can be re-submitted later for consideration by the delegates when the necessary homework has been done.
I do admire the simplicity and humility of the President but I doubt whether some of the Ministers and high-ranking government officials are taking home some lessons from the qualities of the President. I believe power is gradually eating into the heads of some appointees making them arrogant and these must be watched especially, the younger ones. One irritating issue emerging is the indiscreet use of sirens by some appointees who obviously are not entitled to use them and as usual, the Police are unable to arrest the situation.I am sure the time has come for the Police to be more assertive and prevent citizens taking the law into their own hands whether they are in power or not. It is also about time people in responsible positions manage their time effectively to minimise the use of sirens to rush to appointments and in so doing inconvenience innocent citizens.
The issue with sirens is that most motorists are caught unprepared in the middle of heavy traffic and sometimes in narrow drive ways where space would not allow the motorists to give way easily even if they so wish. The unruly behavior of some dispatch riders shouting at motorists, others insulting and some banging their hands on vehicles with impunity, demonstrate the lack of empathy and such behavior should not be entertained. The question is what offences do these motorists commit to incur the wrath of service personnel whose sole ambition is to appease their bosses? As we progress as a nation, such uncouth behavior must not be entertained especially from the security services.Yes, it may be necessary sometimes to rush a dignitary through traffic for some urgent assignment but such an action must be taken with due respect to the citizenry who made it possible for them to earn their positions.“It pays to be nice to the people you meet on the way up, for they are the same people you meet on the way down” – Walter Winchell.
The Extraordinary Conference has ended peacefully but failed to address some important issues that, to my mind, needed to be addressed to ease tensions during internal elections in the party. The special areas of my concern are the elections of Polling Station Executives and Parliamentary Candidates and how Polling Station Albums are compiled because these are the “hot spots” where the Party’s unity had always been badly tested. The objective should always be to reduce the number of court cases by aggrieved persons of the Party especially during internal Party elections and the Party National Executives must work assiduously to achieve this objective.
“The world suffers a lot not because of the VIOLENCE of bad people but because of the SILENCE of good people” – Napoleon.
By Brig-Gen J.Odei