By Margaret Jackson
December 19, 2012 Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the defeated NPP presidential candidate who has a history of not conceding defeats, pitched his hopes on two fronts when it became abundantly clear that the international community had given up on him following his stubborn and snobbish refusal to concede the recently held presidential elections.
Akufo-Addo, who is still in a denial stage and had been day-dreaming, is telling close associates that Samuel Atta Akyea, NPP MP for Akim Abuakwa South and others are working hard to pull some strings around the Chief Justice, Georgina Wood, to overturn the results in his favour. For readers who care to know, Atta Akyea is married to a sister of the chief justice.
But Akufo-Addo set his bigger sight on Alassane Ouattara, President of Cote d’Ivoire. This is the man Akufo-Addo falsely but strongly believes supports his cause to be the president of the Republic of Ghana at all cost. Have you forgotten Akufo-Addo fallaciously blowing the security intelligence cover of Ghana during the last IEA debate by lying that Ghana was harbouring rebels who were bent on overthrowing the Ivorian government?
When the NPP rejected the election results, Akufo-Addo had been counting on Ouattara not to recognize President Mahama as the winner so as to put a dent on the legitimacy of his government. People very close to Akufo-Addo heard him saying that Ouattara had given him the surest of assurances that he will never call or issue a statement congratulating Mahama for winning the December 7 elections.
Therefore, when Akufo-Addo heard that Alassane Ouattara, President of Cote d’Ivoire had congratulated President John Dramani Mahama on his electoral victory he was totalled disorganized and deflated. Sources close to him indicate that Akufo-Addo’s world seemed to have come crashing to the ground and was speechless for hours. Others claim that he even refused to take a bite of anything brought to him. He could not believe that one of his surest cards had been taken away from him. Alassane Ouattara probably felt that he was becoming the odd man among the international community for not sticking his neck out to support the winner of the country’s presidential election. He, therefore, thought that it was about time he bolts Akufo-Addo, thus he released a statement, saying that, according to all observers including the ECOWAS Observation Mission, the elections were held in a peaceful and transparent atmosphere which honours the Ghanaian democracy, which has been cited as an example in both Africa and the world. “I take this opportunity to address, on behalf of the Ivorian people, the Government and on my own behalf, my heartfelt and warm congratulations, for the confidence reposed in you, President Mahama, by the brotherly people of Ghana”, Ouattara said in that statement.
After Akufo-Addo had recovered from the Ouattara shock he took consolation in the fact that the NPP was going to hold a mammoth rally in Kumasi on Tuesday December 18 and later present a petition against the Electoral Commission to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Akufo-Addo was slated to give the main speech to whip up the base of the NPP whose energy and confidence in the so-called fight for the election results keep dwindling with each passing day. Other top-guns including ex-president JA Kufuor were all billed to throw in their cents during the rally. But the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who felt snubbed by Akufo-Addo during a meeting before the signing of the Kumasi Peace Accord, did not want to have anything to do with Akufo-Addo’s so-called fight for electoral justice. Otumfuo was influential in organizing the Kumasi Peace Accord, which brought the eight presidential candidates to agree to ensure peace during and after the elections. Otumfuo, therefore, caused a statement to be released before the NPPs demonstration that he will not receive any petition from the NPP at the end of the “March for Justice”. This was the last straw to break Akufo-Addo’s back. Akufo-Addo is reported to have stated that his suspicions that the Asante faction in the NPP was rooting for his defeat had been confirmed.
That was why Akufo-Addo failed to show up in Kumasi for the demonstration and rally. He felt that it will be the biggest slight and a defeatist approach if he should go to Kumasi and not be able to present his petition to the Asantehene. The Asantehene and Ouattara have totally deflated Akufo-Addo and now he stands alone in his decision to fight this losing battle to the end. Many NPP big-wigs are privately saying that Akufo-Addo may be forced to come out by Friday December 21 to concede defeat to save the NPP from further embarrassment and shame.
There was one NPP big-wig who even stated emphatically that at this point even if the elections were to go for a second round Akufo-Addo may be lucky to get 40 per cent of the overall votes.
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