Although I’m not so adept with the English Language, my little understanding of it suggests that in instances where ascendancy to leadership roles hinges on one being a royal, that is in dynasty and monarchical establishments, no elections are held to choose a successor. As an ardent follower of events in the Ghanaian political landscape, I am being compelled to write this piece because of what I perceive as unwarranted innuendos being shot at Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, one of the NPP’s Presidential aspirants, simply because he is the President’s brother.
It is my considered opinion that such pettiness being exhibited by people who I sincerely believe should know better, must give way to merit, competence, proven track record, and political clout in the choice of the next leader of the NPP, and that of all parties.
I have never been an admirer of Capt. Boakye Djan of the AFRC fame (and by extension all who have the penchant for coups), but for once his exposition on Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor gave me the impetus to add my bit. To the skeptics and pessimists, answers to these questions would defeat their agenda:
If the NPP flagbearership as well as the Ghanaian Presidency were to be a dynasty, would we have allowed others to contest it?
Why should Dr. Addo Kufuor have subjected himself to parliamentary vetting? After all, he is the President’s brother
If it were indeed to be a dynasty, then the other aspirants have no business wasting their energy and resources. This is because as they are not siblings of the President, they obviously do not qualify to assume the seat, as per the dynasty calculations
To sum the above, once elections will be held to decide who becomes the NPP’s flagbearer, it more than crosses out the dynasty propaganda. If I had the chance of being an NPP delegate, which of course is like building castles in the air, my vote would go to the one with appropriate answers to the underlisted:
Your professional capability i.e. what have you achieved in your chosen career If you were to be or have been a minister, what do you have to show as part of the President’s vision to help rebuild the country? What has been your contribution to the growth of your party, in this case, the NPP? If you were not a minister but an MP, what have been your achievements
It is unfortunate that we have intellectuals who use their knowledge to misinform to serve their short-sighted agenda. Probably this example will suffice. Prior to the 1992 November elections, the anti-Danquah Busia camp had this to say: “the late Okomfo Anokye has decreed that no Asante would have to be a President, and by extension rise above the Asantehene, the spiritual head of all Asantes.” They conveniently forget that Lieutenant General A.A.Afrifa was also an Asante. With H.E. President J.A.Kufuor also being an Asante, that misinformation is dead
I can liken the above scenario to what some propagandists from within the NPP are saying about one of their own high-flyers in terms of proven track record of achievements, both professionally and as a minister.
Let me caution them that as they campaign for the support of the delegates, they should be mindful of their diction or choice of words and not by any stretch of pettiness denigrate one another. Let me acknowledge that I have been following the utterances of all aspirants and has so far been impressed with the decency of the language of some of them whose names I will not mention for fear of being branded as rooting for them. Let that be the guide of all other aspirants so as not to arm their opponents with undue arsenals and ammunitions which of course will not exclude blackmail.
Be it stated clearly that in the national politics of Ghana, there exists no dynasty as it pertains in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, China, and the like. I trust that each aspirant would have examined himself truthfully to check if he has the wherewithal to lead the NPP or whatever party he belongs to, to victory.
The signals are clear that Kufuor will hand over to another NPP government. The question is ‘who does the cap most fit as per the numerous aspirants that have cropped up’? Watch out for more.
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