Today, I am going to wear my shining and solid weapon of confrontational discourse so I plead for forgiveness if I step on the toes of some people. I also seek your indulgence to accept my suggestions and move in sympathy with me as I try to be realistic and bombastic.
Angel Gabriel is angry today and if you are religious as I am, you will understand why the Senior Messenger of God sometimes becomes angry and what he can do whenever he is angry. When Zachariah simply doubted the pregnancy of his wife, he was made dumb until the birth of the child. Infact, he could not open his mouth to name the child and had to make do with his rough handwriting on the ground to tell the gathering that the child should be called John. Who say Angels no dey? I always feel comfortable when I wear my heavy weapon of confrontational discourse and I don’t mind whose ox is gored. After all, when the sea is rough the fishes don’t give a dime. That is why the fishes did not join the patriarch Noah in his Ark. Think about that.
I don’t know how the National, Regional and Constituency NPP Communication Members are appointed but what I do know is that they are failures as far as communication for the party is concerned. In fact, they do not know what political communication is all about. They think praising the government alone is communication and they are not prepared to learn because after all, they are the communicators. They are quick to introduce themselves as Communicators of the NPP but when it comes to explaining government policies they pant and beat about the bush. If you ask them why they do not research before voicing out what they say, they will tell you the National Communication Team did not brief them. How stupid! You sit in your constituency and expect Mr. Boaben Asamoa, the National Communication Director to tell you what to say about a project which is going on in your constituency? You are a fool if you think so. Sometimes, as a communicator, you should be the first to constructively criticize your party so that those who will seize the opportunity to criticize your party destructively are kept off. Anytime “Prophet” Dr. Bawumia gives his thought-provoking lectures, I go beyond his delivery and make my own research in order to understand him better so that I can explain his ideas to those who are confused.
The second year of roads have started rolling out with contractors on site doing marvelous jobs. Apart from Accra, Kumasi and other big cities, the small towns are getting their fair share of road construction. The NDC in their Green Book lied to Ghanaians that they have completed the construction of almost all the phantom roads they portrayed in the propaganda book.
When the truth came out, the NPP Communicators have kept silent while the government is fervently executing the job. In their bid to cover up the lies they told Ghanaians, the NDC is sponsoring communities where the roads are still bad to demonstrate. Hon. Sosu whose constituency did not see good roads during the eight-year rule of the NDC shamelessly led the constituents to demonstrate against the government for not constructing their roads. Meanwhile no one is questioning him why his government left the road in such a bad state when they were in power for eight years. Nobody should tell me that the NPP has no communicators in that constituency who can tell Ghanaians the number of years those roads were left in such a bad state.
Take the issue of Corona Virus pandemic for example. Since the pandemic reared its ugly head in the world, the economies of every nation is on a meltdown mold. Factories are being closed and in some cases, salaries are not even paid and workers have been laid off while some economies are crumbling across the length and breadth of the universe. As for the death toll, it is better not to say anything about it because it is alarming and horrifying. The whole world is virtually on her knees economically. The President and his government has done all what they could do to minimize the death toll by introducing certain measures through the advice of scientists to make sure lives are saved. Today because of their desire for political power, the NDC propagandists are making Ghanaians to see the government as the reason for the economic hardship which is facing the nation. They started complaining when schools were closed as the result of the pandemic. When measures were put in place and schools reopened, they did not see the reason why the government reopened the schools and tried to knock the heads of parents against the government for reopening the schools. These saboteurs! Fear them! Do you remember when the EC opened the voters registration exercise? Do you remember how they lined up NDC lecturers and other nation wreckers to sign a petition claiming the exercise was going to enhance the spread of the disease?
You see, when you are dealing with people like the NDC propagandists, you must always be the first to take the battle to them. If you lose your guard, they will pollute the minds of the good people of Ghana. The NPP is taking the NDC for granted. They are very good at misinforming the people. They deliberately train their communicators in the art of misinformation. What makes their trick serious is that, they propagate their lies in the villages where the rate of illiteracy is high. Those who live in the villages have no access to computers and other means of information apart from what they hear on radio. Those who support the NDC in the small towns and villages have time to spread the lies they hear rapidly and it sinks in rapidly as well.
In no time, the Agenda 111 will take-off that is if it has not already taken off in some constituencies. It is the duty of party communicators to inform the people every stage that the projects have reached. If contractors are delaying, you, the party communicator, in collaboration with your MMDCE must ask why the delay and inform the constituents. This particular Agenda 111 has a timeline so as a communicator you should consistently visit the project site to know what is happening. One may be living in the constituency where the project is ongoing but may not know where the project is located. It is up to you as a communicator to inform the people so that the Doubting Thomas can go and see what is happening there. As for the NDC communicators they always wear wooden glasses so they will pretend not to see anything going on.
One thing some NPP communicators do which rakes my heart is the way they speak. They intersperse their presentations with English Language as if everybody in Ghana understands the English Language. I do not understand Nzema so if you are making a point on air in Ewe and you add Nzema, I see you as stupid but not me who you are trying to convince. Very soon people will start lobbying to be appointed as NPP communicators.
The party should lay out the criteria for anyone who wants to be appointed as a communicator. There is also the need for a monitoring team to be formed to monitor the performance of all communicators so that those who are not good at the job are changed immediately.
Breaking the eight-year jinx is a herculean task and so no stone should be left unturned as we try to make history. In this 21st century, communication is indispensable in all our daily endeavors. Have I stepped on toes? Just heat water and massage the place while I puff away my Churchill cigar with professorial pride and demeanor.
By Eric Bawah