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Between the mid 70's and the early 80's, there was this madman at Betom a suburb of Koforidua in the Eastern Region who was very good at advertising his intentions. He went about warning his victims. He begins by saying, "I'm coming to do it"; and whaam, he slaps! Then he continues, "Didn't I tell you I was going to do it?"
Please permit me to digress a bit to throw some light on the recently held District Level Election. Technically, the election is supposed to be non-partisan, but it is no secret that contestants of the election are affiliated with one political party or the other.
The 2023 election presented some fascinating dynamics that seem to reflect the mood of the masses across the country. Below are some provisional results:
At Madina, in the Greater Accra Region, the NDC won all 15 slots. The NDC used to have 17 out of 18 at Kpone Katamanso, but this time around, it swept all 18; at Ningo Prampram, NDC won 21 out of 22; Sene East: NDC 15, NPP 4; and at Asunafo North, out of 26 slots, NDC had 24.
There are more: Buipe/Yapei, NDC 25, NPP 5; Jaman North, NDC 18, NPP 9; at Anyaa-Sowutuom the NDC had a paltry 1 and the NPP garnered a massive 12 in 2019. However, in 2023, NDC had 8 slots and NPP had 5.
The mood in the Ashanti Region the stronghold of the NPP was not different, apart from a relatively lower turn-out, the NDC made significant inroads, for example at Atwima Mponua, in 2019, NDC had 16 and NPP 22. Interestingly, the tables turned this time around, NDC had 23 and NPP got 15.
Impressively, the NDC won over 100 additional electoral areas in Ashanti Region, moving from 24.2% in 2019 to 33.6% in 2023 while NPP plummeted from 77% in 2019 to 65.5%. It is worthy of note that 11 independent candidates contested and won in the region. Could they be from Allan's Movement for Change?
Like the story of the madman from Betom, could the poor showing from the Elephant Fraternity be a warning to an NPP-crushing defeat in 2024? Anyway, whatever it is, I can sense a natural mysticism blowing through the air, and if you listen carefully now you will hear.
This could be the first trumpet as well as the last. Many more will have to suffer defeat in the Parliamentary Election, and many more will have to retire because things are not what they used to be. I won't tell a lie. Kikikikikiki, this is my rendition of Bob Marley's "Natural Mystic".