He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, his eyes are closed – Albert Einstein
It is not for nothing that the NPP established the research portfolios at the Constituency, Regional and National levels. National, Regional and Constituency Executive members as well as all communicators of the party are supposed to rely heavily on information provided by these research officers in order to be effective and perform well.
Sadly, the naked and gospel truth is that these Research Officers are not effective at all. As for the Constituency Research Officers, they don’t even know their roles therefore they are sitting ducks. In fact, they don’t know why they have been appointed to the positions they are holding with pride. To put it bluntly, they are square pegs in round holes. You may call them toothless bulldogs or lame horses and you will not be far from right.
The NPP as a political party, on the other hand, is taking the historical background and the tricks and lies of the NDC for granted and they do so at their own peril and survival. Immediately Mr. Rawlings usurped power in 1981, he took many cadres of his revolution to East Germany, Cuba, Bulgaria, Romania, USSR, Libya and other communist countries to learn the art of propaganda. These guys returned, armed with specialized Communist inferior tactics to brainwash Ghanaians, particularly those in the rural areas. In no time, Rawlings became an idol worth worshipping by many illiterates who could not distinguish between the wheat and the chaff.
They started calling him Junior Jesus and swallowed whatever he told Ghanaians, hook, line and sinker. That was the beginning of our troubles. The few enlightened Ghanaians who could read between the lines and boldly criticized the junta were either brutally killed, imprisoned, beating up by drugged and drunken soldiers and the lucky ones run into exile. Rawlings had his own private army stationed at what was called the Blue Gate. They were the Commandoes and were well paid, armed and fed more than the regular army. He then introduced the Culture of Silence whereby Ghanaians could not criticize his criminal junta and those who did so paid a heavy price. The trained propagandists took over the duties of the Ministry of Information and fed Ghanaians nothing but naked lies and promise of an Eldorado which turned out to be hell on earth. Junior Jesus was rechristened Junior Judas by the same Halleluiah choir masters.
Many of Rawlings’ propagandists are still alive and kicking. Even though they are too old to hit the grounds, they are working behind the scene and training the younger generation who were born too late to know what happened during the wish-to-be forgotten bloody revolutionary days. Instead of the NPP finding a way to dilute this poison, they continue to play it gentle and treat the NDC propaganda machinery with kid-gloves.
The NPP delivered victory to the NDC on a silver platter during the Assin North by-election. Immediately the Assin North seat was declared vacant by the Supreme Court, the NDC bused their propagandists, who included TEIN members, to the nooks and crannies of Assin North Constituency. Their message was simple and those in the rural areas in particular understood them and did move in sympathy with the party.
They alleged that the reason why the NPP worked behind the scene to see to it that James Gyakye Quayson was removed from parliament was to give the Nana Addo-led government the opportunity to introduce LGBT in Ghana. Ebei! They said even though a Private Members’ Bill is before Parliament, if the NPP gets the required majority in parliament the Bill will not see the light of day and LGBT will flourish in Ghana. They rang the bell louder at the Zongos, knowing very well that Muslims in particular seriously abhor LGBT. They promised the Muslims that if by the grace of Allah, Gyakye Quayson becomes MP again and Mr. Mahama wins the 2024 Presidential Election the issue of LGBT in Ghana will be history. And the crowd shouted, “Allahu Akbar.”
Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Chairman Wontumi, and his team were roaming the big towns in Assin North with misdirected and unconvincing messages. Imagine Wontumi telling the crowd that Mr. Gyakye Quayson did not own a single house or even a container for himself at the constituency, as if that matters in politics. And when his listeners clapped for him he thought he had delivered a convincing political message. A person like Okudjato Ablakwa never owned a building either in his constituency or elsewhere. He was unemployed. But the people of North Tongu voted for him. In fact, many MPs were renting single rooms in their respective constituencies before entering parliament. In 1992, some of the MPs even never owned a bicycle before they were voted as Parliamentarians. Some had not visited Accra before throughout their miserable life before they went to Parliament. So what was Wontumi saying at Assin North? Did his infantile comments change the minds of the voters of Assin North? The reality is that it even made them angry because greater number of those who were listening to him didn’t own houses. The standard of this man as far as politics is concerned is pretty low. He can help the party with his money but I do not recommend him mounting any political platform.
The truth is that if the Constituency and Regional Research Officers had gone to the grounds, they would have been able to sniff the lies being propagated by the NDC and thereafter, inform communicators of the NPP to go to town to diffuse the vile propaganda. What happened at Assin North should be seen by the NPP as a blessing in disguise. It is a lesson worth learning. In fact, it is a wakeup call for the party as preparation towards election 2024 is underway. The National Chairman of the party and his team should go to the drawing board to redesign their campaign strategy.
One area the Chairman and his team should seriously look at is the issue of complacency. They should take time to read Dr. Author Kennedy’s book titled, ‘Chasing the Elephant into the Bush: Politics of Complacency.’ When the book was published, members of the NPP refused to buy or read the book because of the title. If they had read the book, a lot of corrections could have been made before the 2012 General Elections. Nana B, the National Organizer of the NPP with his team of Regional and Constituency Organizers were very complacent at Assin North. In fact, they were overconfident and in politics that is dangerous. Haven won the Kumawu by-election, Nana B erroneously thought winning the Assin North was a done deal. He did not know that politics is like a Judo fight. One of the maxims of Judo is that you hit and hit your opponent so hard that he will not be able to stand up again to fight. That was the maxim adopted by the NPP in 2016 which saw Mr. Mahama crushing down the valley.
As for me, I will continue be a self-appointed crusader as far as issues in the NPP are concerned in this column because if even you call an officer of the party on his cell phone to complain and make suggestions, he will not pick your call. After all, who am I? My genuine fear is that if the NPP continues to fumble and power slips through their fingers and the NDC holds the reins of power, the country will take ten steps backwards. The free SHS will be abandoned, the Agenda 111 hospital projects which are going on at a rapid pace in the districts will be thrown to the dogs and all the lofty programmes initiated by the Nana Addo-led administration will be jettisoned at the high seas. They did same when Mr. Kufuor left office and they will never hesitate to do it again. The sages say once bitten, twice shy. Those who have ears should listen to the lone voice of, Angel Gabriel, crying in the wilderness because when the rain falls, it won’t fall on one man’s house!!!
By Eric Bawah