Since high office could only be held for few years, no one could gain lasting dominance, and though this meant that political factions struggled constantly for control, this system kept out tyrants and petty dictators.
New patriotic party(NPP), the party with the largest population of akans who always feel they are the better ghanaians and are second to none, and even within the akans themselves some feel more superior than others which made it difficult for them to do away with ethnocentrism.In fact ethnocentrism undermines the unity of a party and that of a nation. Ghanaianas as we all know have known themselves to be one people , to have one destiny from time immemorial, yet the inner feelings of we are superior than other ethnic groups still exist in the minds of some of the Akans.
In the face of superior skill, talent or power, we are often disturbed and ill at ease;this is because some of us have an inflated sense of our selves and when we meet people who surpass us they make it clear to us that we are infact mediocre, or at least not as brilliant as we had thought.This disturbance in our self-image cannot last long without stirring up urgly emotions.
In the early nineties, the rate of illiteracy in ghana was great and people of ghana were seen as the most gullible ,are being decieved at will and this made NPP succeeded in making ghanaians believed that, NPP is the only party that has brilliant people and without NPP, the country will remain where it was.Not untill the 2000 when NPP won the power that the discrepancies between the parties of interlectuals and that of the gullibility of ghanaians proved to be disapointinning.By the time the term of NPP comes to an end, the radio stations have become common and so even illiterates also got access to knowing what was going on in politics,and that is when ghanaians began to notice how gullible they were to have believed in flawless of NPP.
After the failure of NPP to live up to what they claimed to be, the late proff. Atta Mills beat them in their own game to claim the title of power from them. And on realizing that,in terms of skills and talent, the Prof.of peace Atta Mills surpass them, insidiousand destructive emotions, thus envy rocked NPP. But the professor,John Evans Atta Mills has understood already that as you gain power, those below you will feel envious of you.They may not show it but it is inevitable,he neither took it personal nor did he accepted the facade they shown him, he read between the lines of their criticisms, their little sacarstic remarks and the signs of backstabbing and even insults, till they openly jubilated the rumour of his death.Ghanaians doubted if there could be something diabolic about NPP and that with the sympathy of his real death gave his successor jOHN Dramani Mahama the advantage to kick Nana Addo's ass in the first round, thus election 2012.
Pölitical power of any kind creates envy, no doubt about that, When late prof, Atta Mills died, president Mahama knew he had the advantage to be mentained after serving the rest of the term of his master(late prof. of peace). but he Mahama did not sought the position eagerly, which will stirr up envy and suspecion within the governing party.The ruling party(NDC) then met and agreed on allowing him to go unopposed. People cannot envy the power they themselves have given a person who did not show any eagerness.
Unlike NAna Addo who appeared to be perfect, who will do anything to realized his childhood dream to become president and always acted to have no fault. Appearing to be better than others is dangerous, but most dangerous of it all is to appear to have no faults or weakness,envy creates silent enemies.It is smart to occasionally display difects and admit to harmless vices.Only God is perfect. A critical analysis indicates that, all the bad behaviuors of NPP in the past were out of envy,they envied Nana Addo, saying things that will terrorized ghanaians and confirmed what their rivals were saying, insulting people who NPP will need their votes badly to win the election.They did what they could to make sure Nana Addo becomes the second person to suffer twice defeat in the hands of NDC just like his predecessor (Nana Adubuahen). Ghanaians were offended to the extent that they did not bother to listened to NPP´s manifesto, knowing that only supporters of NPP cannot give them the targeted percentage to win..
Mahama Dramani, the president knew that, when people envy you they will work against you insidiously.They will put obstacles on your path that you will never foresee or that you cannot trace to their source but he never believed NPP could have hold the country at ransom for almost a year with the supreme court petition out of envy, boycotting every national events and to the extent of accusing him of making tribalistic comments against Akans which was supported with a doctored tape of his three days visit to Ashanti region.In fact, it was very hard foe him to defend himself against this kind of accusations. such is the power of envy.
President John Dramani could not understood the stubborn opposition he faced from NPP.He did not see that he had not only made no attempt to desguised the degree of his leadership skills and qualities, he had imposed them on one and all, making show of his versatility, thinking it impressed people even in the opposition and won him friends.Infact, it made him silent enemies as they believe he can easily win his second term,they felt inferior to him and are doing all they could to make him the first president in Ghana to serve only one term in office.
Envy will use any cover it finds to masks its destruction..And this is the reason why factionalism could not end in NPP,behaving as if they are the only party in opposition. They fail to notice that some environments are more conducive to envy than others.The effects of envy are more serious among colleagues and peers, where there is veneer of equality and struggle for power.
Finally,NPP should be informed that, envy could be destructivevin democratic environments where overt displays of power are looked down upon and must be extra sensitive in such environments.
tantawayussif@gmail.com