The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is making waves on all media platforms and private conversations, sometimes for the wrong reasons.
Some of its leading members who from time immemorial have had disagreements with others say the party is at the crossroads, set for an implosion.
Since the contest for the flagbearer of the party began some few months ago, some of the members consider the platform as an avenue to settle personal scores.
Personalities like Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and Arthur Kennedy who consider themselves as elders of the party have not spared President Akufo-Addo anytime they had any media engagement, accusing him of hijacking the party.
And others who think like those two gentlemen claim there is a grand design to promote a certain establishment candidate over others. These people, characteristics of the Goebbelsian liars, have sustained this agenda to such an extent that others not even in the party such as media outlets, some members of academia, NDC followers, civil society groups and analysts have joined the chorus to discredit a fine gentleman like Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of being unable to be his own man.
During the build-up to the August 26, 2023 Super Delegates’ Congress, personalities such as Alan Kyerematen and Kennedy Agyapong never missed any opportunity to tell the whole world that the contest was not fair, especially when their suggestion for a centralised conference was shot down.
This issue and other concerns of theirs were the basis for Alan breaking away from the NPP to identify with the butterfly.
It has been difficult to appreciate how somebody in a contest will want to be the referee and in other words be a judge in his own case.
Unlike Nyaho Tamakloe and Arthur Kennedy who are pissing inside from outside, Alan until last week and Kennedy Agyapong were pissing inside from within with the apparent intention that if the delegates won’t select any of us then the party must break apart.
Otherwise why will Alan for instance say the NPP has no message but still traveled all over Ghana canvassing for votes to be the same party’s presidential candidate for the 2024 elections.
Kennedy Agyapong, on the other hand, thinks he is the only credible person to lead the party, threatening fire and brimstone to collapse the party if the delegates fail to do him the honour.
He claims the party is corrupt; and that if he makes certain secrets of the party public, it has no chance to stand the test of time. Again, Kennedy sees himself as the Messiah whose business accomplishments can convince Ghanaians to vote for the NPP to ‘break the eight’. Anytime he mounts the platform, it is about, to borrow the words of Koku Anyidoho, “me, me, me” but not what Nana Akufo-Addo and his government have done.
There are rules governing membership of any group, including political parties, and code of conduct rules apply.
In modern politics, tribal bigotry and hate speech are not tolerated in order to build a strong bond in mobilising the numbers for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary polls. When the conspiracy theories they came up with failed during the August 26 delegates’ conference, they now want to turn attention to some unfortunate incidents that happened on that day as the basis to revolt against their own party. We are saddened by the fact that these are personalities who claim to have helped to nurture the NPP.
That being the case, it means they understand the democratic ethos and appreciate the elements that constitute free and fair elections.
The incidents that they complained of, unfortunate as they were, could not in anyway discredit the overwhelming victory of the Vice President or call for the cancellation of the August 26 internal party exercise.
We shall proceed with this commentary in the next edition.