, Two Time Flag Bearer of Ghana’s NPP
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; …. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves,” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Nobody can say that Ghana’s Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo did not “take the current when it served. At the earliest opportunity, he took the bull by the horns and challenged Ex-President J. A. Kufour for the NPP flag bearership, Although he lost that contest, he bounced back with a vengeance besting Kufour’s protégée, Alan ‘Cash’ Kyerematen, for the party’s number one spot on two separate occasions.
Nana Addo has therefore led the NPP party twice in their quest for t Ghana’s presidency. On both missions his eyes have seen Canaan but his foot has not touched the Promised Land. He has been clumped a few decimals or percentage point{s} away from the presidency by the rival NDC candidate.
In 2008, the late President John Atta Mills came from behind to yank victory from the soles of Nana’s feet in the Round Off. Nana’s performance in the just ended 2012 contest brings to mind the famous saying of the Asante King, Kofi Karikari. “The white man brought his canon to the bush but the bush was stronger than the canon.”
This time around the combination of the Northern savanna, the bushes of Northern Brong Ahafo and Volta, punctuated by Central and Western regions proved too strong for whatever canons Nana Addo, brought to bear. His Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Sir John, “all die be die” mantra and free SHS promise, over powering as they sound or appear, were woefully inadequate for the task.
AYI KOO! Nana, you have served your party well in various roles from secretary to two time flag bearer. You have served your country well as minister of State in various portfolios. The time has come for you to hang up your boots. ?BARIMA B?Y?? BI NANSO W’AMM?Y? NO NYINAA. Nana, you gave it your best. Even though your best was not enough; your die hard supporters will always say “Nana is a winner.”
In the next four years, at the ripe age of seventy-two (72}, you stand no chance against a sitting younger fifty –eight year (58) old President John Dramani Mahama. Please, relinquish all claims to lead the party now. Take a back seat; get a dignified title of senior minister or something. Nana, your party is hemorrhaging. You and Ex-President Kufour need to help your party reorganize urgently!
. The NDC has shown its maturity as a national party in the way it won the 2012 election. It won Parliamentary seats across the length and breadth of the country without benefiting from the involvement of their traditional stalwarts, J. J. Rawlings, Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and the late President Mills in the campaign. The NPP cannot continue to exist as an Asante and Akyem conglomerate. There are simply not enough votes in the Ashanti and Eastern regions to return the party to power.
Written and submitted by L. Kojo Yeboah, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.