There was a banner headline by the “Daily Guide” which stated that MP’s were MAD at “F” marks – a grading system by the Africa Watch magazine in its October publication covering the President, the Speaker of Parliament, Ministers of State and Members of Parliament in Ghana.
Whether the MP’s were MAD or CRAZY, ANGRY or HUNGRY, RAVING or RANTING it is their own problems to thrash it out with the Publishers of Africa Watch magazine. However, in my own opinion, the publication HIT the Nail on the Head and it will keep non – performing MP’s on their toes, especially those EGYPTIAN MUMMIES in parliament who always support unpalatable policies of past governments blindly by saying “Yea – Yea – we concur right from the Rawlings regime in 1992-2000 to the Kufour’s regime in 2001-2008 and beyond.
The Africa Watch magazine’s publication is nothing more than a Wake Up call to our MP’s in parliament to justify their titles as HONOURABLE MEMBERS and it will be an act of POLITICAL IMMATURITY on their part to start insulting the publishers of Africa Watch because it is the papers democratic right to watch our parliamentarians and their performance in parliament.
This writer is also coming out with a Political Parties Solidarity Index in Ghana and it covers all the Registered Political Parties with representation in parliament percentage by percentage. Here we go:
1. NDC solidarity index 2% for them, it is each one for himself and God for us all – which is too bad.
2. CPP solidarity index 58%
3. PNC solidarity index 52%
4. NPP solidarity index 100% plus because they know the value and importance of party solidarity.
One may not like the arrogance displayed by the NPP when they were in government or their property owning democracy ideology from 2001-2008, or even dislike the NPP minority in Parliament for the way they carried out its business on the floor of parliament when they were in the majority during the Kufour administration. To be frank, most cadres including this writer have been compelled to ADMIRE the SHARP REACTION of the NPP when it comes to the interest of THEIR PARTY and its SUPPORTERS. The sheer show of solidarity by the NPP Minority in parliament for social commentator called Nana Darkwa was admirable. The NDC must learn from them. In terms of political solidarity the party has been scoring “F” IN CHAINS since its inceptions in 1992 to date, 2010 and beyond.
Even though we condemned the NPP minority caucus decision to boycott parliamentary proceeding and their failure to condemn Nana Darkwa for his ungodly comments he made against former President Rawlings, their re-action was commendable. To be frank, the opposition NPP in parliament demonstrated in the strongest terms that the work they are doing in the House is NOT disconnected to what the NPP as a political party is doing elsewhere, including what the stalwarts and people partisan to the party are doing on the streets and in the media to get the NPP back to power. When the NPP were in Government they “DID NO WRONG”, when in opposition they “DO NO WRONG” – that is why I graded the NPP – 100% plus – But that does NOT mean that one must defect to the NPP – Tofiakwa!
In the NDC the work our MP’s did in parliament from 1992-2000 was DISCONNECTED to what the NDC as a political party did elsewhere, and it continues UN-ABATED to day 2010. The NPP is really a party worth Dying for, but don’t go and join them, we can rather learn from them. In the NDC, dying for the party have NO Importance to the HIERARCHY from 1992 -2000 up to 2010 and it is an INFECTIOUS DISEASE in the NDC inherited from FATHER to SON. Some Pro-NDC journalists faced several problems including court suits during the NPP administration and the NDC minority caucus in parliament never raised an eyebrow, because they always see what they are doing in parliament to be different from what NDC supporters and party cadres do in the media and on the streets which is wrong. The NDC caucus always distances itself from the tribulation of people who found themselves in trouble for making similar political comments against the NPP or members of that party. Mr. Clement Sangaparee, a prolific writer on political issues since 1992 mostly against the NPP stalwarts is a very lucky man NOT to have fallen into trouble because he chooses his words carefully and always laced them with FACTS that is what saved him? The NPP always runs for cover whenever he takes his pen to write about them.
Sometime in October 2005, Jojo Bruce Quansah, Editor of the “Palaver” was awoken when seven people including 2armed policemen stormed his house at 3a.m and demanded to be paid a fine of billions of cedis imposed on his newspaper by a court in a case brought against him by the brother of then President Kufour whose name was George Kufour. Mr. Quansah told the midnight thugs that he did not have money, and they insisted that they were taking items of value from the house to defray the cost and the Editor went through Hell and for 2 weeks he was the subject of harassment by the NPP. The then minority NDC did not issue any statement to condemn the raid neither did they boycott parliament and NOT a single leading member of the NDC came to his rescue in any form.
Mr. Opare Djan – Editor of the “Daily Democrat” also suffered the same fate with several political harassments when he too was picked and locked up in the MTTU cells for over 24 hours after he was involved in a mysterious motor accident in Accra and was treated like a common criminal. Mike Dokosi, Editor of the Daily Post was picked up by the police for articles he wrote on the gruesome murder of Ya Naa Yakubu Andani of Yendi in March 2002. That harassment did not arouse the interest of the NDC caucus in parliament and they did NOTHING to show any form of Solidarity to Mr. Dokosi when he was forced to make the police station his second home. Uncle Raphael, another pro-NDC journalist was sued by Hon. Hackman Owusu Agyeman of the NPP for 1 billion cedis which led to the collapse of his newspaper, yet Mr.Raphael was the very person who wrote the IDEOLOGY OF THE NDC as a political party. Ebenezer Josiah former editor of the National Democrat was left alone to battle numerous cases in court which were brought against him by ministers in president Kufour’s government and some leaders of the NPP.
The tall list is endless, and THE NDC DOES NOT WANT TO BECOME A PARTY WORTH DYING FOR AT ALL since its formation in 1992. The strong message from the NPP is very clear and they acknowledges the fact that they are one family with one destiny. AS FOR THE NDC, WE ARE ALL UNDER ONE GIANT UMBRELLA WITH DIFFERENT DESTINIES, DIFFERENT CHARACTERS, DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHO ARE DIVIDED INDIRECTLY AND IT HAS BEEN AND IS STILL EACH ONE FOR HIMSELF AND GOD FOR US ALL WHICH IS VERY BAD. It is very interesting to see most NDC members jubilating over the tribulation of their fellow NDC members since 1992 – to date 2010. The NDC wants publicity, but it has no time to groom journalists and protect them to champion its cause, is the party really Serious?
When will the leadership of the party learn to emulate the good and shinning examples of the NPP solidarity towards its ordinary supporters? When will the NDC party close the gap of 98% plus to catch up with the well united NPP in terms of political solidarity in this country? The NDC is lagging behind like a snail and some of us are only protected by God, otherwise it would have been very disastrous for those of us writing from the Heart of the beast in the Ashanti Region.
Adding Insult To Injury
MOST CONSTITUENCY AND REGIONAL EXECUTIVE MEMBERS OF THE NDC ARE OPENLY TELLING CADRES IN THE FACE THAT ONCE THEY ARE RAWLINGS BOYS – THEY WILL NEVER GET ANYTHING FROM THE NDC GOVERNMENT. Is that their own policy or that of the Mills government? The President must start sacking such destructive characters and confusionists in the NDC to avoid a political disaster in the 2012 general elections. They are rather under mining President Mills and NOT the cadres. They are bound to fail if the cadres are their targets. They must rather go and form their own political party elsewhere and burn the sea or go to hell. How can one eject his own landlord from his house in this world? These people are playing with a raging fire ignorantly because the party belongs to the cadres, so if they don’t know I am telling them in their face. The NDC is being destroyed in most constituencies nationwide by these destructive infiltrators using the name of the Executive to through throw their weights about, and they are only adding insult to injury by attacking the cadres in the party.
Hon. Kobby Acheampong’s Remarks
The NDC majority caucus in parliament again remained silent as the fire eating minority in parliament and the NPP print and electronic media are TEARING the honourable minister to pieces. How can the NPP let their General Secretary astray to be insulting the President and treating the Presidency with contempt and disrespect by saying that the President deserves an “A” grading for doing nothing? Is Sir John even qualified enough to polish the shoes of the sitting President and his wife? Therefore, if Hon. Kobby Acheampong has apologized and some people are not happy – let the NPP Youth Organizer and his party members simply go and burn the sea or go to hell and they can never instruct the President to sack the minister because of this affair. The NPP FM stations and their print media even went ahead to add the name of the Asantehene, the Ashanti Kingdom and all the residents of cocoa growing Regions in the country as been among those insulted by the Honourable Minister – What sort of dirty politics is this? Didn’t the NPP say worse things than this? The NDC supporters have never been happy about the extreme LACK OF SOLIDARITY within the NDC since its inception in 1992.
Once again, Hon. Kobby Acheampong must also carry his own cross and cry his own cry – isn’t it? WHAT A BIG SHAME ONTO THE NDC MAJORITY CAUCUS AND THE PARTY LEADERSHIP IN GENERAL. THIS NEGATIVE AND APATHETIC BEHAVIOR OF THE NDC LEADERSHIP WILL EVENTUALLY COLLAPSE THE NDC AS A PARTY ONE DAY AND NOT. RAWLINGS AS HIS DETRACTORS IN THE PARTY WILL WANT GHANAIANS TO BELIEVE. STRANGE THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN THE NDC since enemy making machines are fast becoming giant industries under the Mills administration since 2009. It will be recalled that when NDC followers were attacked by NPP supporters in August 2008 which resulted in the murder of an 80 year old chief at Gushiegu in the Northern Region, it took the NDC several days to protest against that violence. Sometimes it seemed as if the thinking of the NDC was that if they adopted a conciliatory approach and reframed from standing up to the NPP on slanght, it will perhaps make the NPP become less aggressive towards them - Are NDC members women or men? The NDC is making very grave mistakes because no sane Ghanaian who knows the sordid history of the NPP will ever fight them with WHITE GLOVES at all because there is always blood in the head of a tsetse fly – what serves the NPP right is nothing but a BOOT for BOOT APPROACH on the Political arena period.
The disconnect within the NDC actually manifested itself during the 2008 election campaign when they were almost always FOUND WANTING in the public relations and communication contest. Where as the NPP was ALWAYS QUICK to REACT to issues (sometimes within 24 hours) it normally took the NDC several days to re-act to issues raised in the campaign. All these MUST change for the better in order to move the party forward. I sincerely hope these SERIOUS CONCERNS raised by me will be taken into consideration and implemented by the party leadership in good faith. The NDC is heir to the June 4 Uprising in 1979, so thousands of NDC supporters including this writer does not understand the reason why members of a party born out of a no nonsense popular revolution should always fold its arms and allow our political opponents to maim and kill us and we play the ostrich. We don’t also understand why the NPP should always publish malicious lies against the NDC and the party drags its feet for several days before re-acting to such false stories. Who AUTHORISED those NPP Youth at Atiwa to erect that UN-AUTHORISED BARRIER in that town during the bye-elections over there? What right did they have to erect that barrier in the town in the first place? What was the motive behind the erection of hat illegal barrier at Atiwa? These are questions begging for answers from the NPP. O. K.; what is coming, is coming and what will happen will happen in the 2012 general elections on 7th December, so the NPP should be prepared for REAL ACTION during the campaign. Instead of going round the various constituencies to educate our numerous supporters after winning 8½ regions during the December 7, general elections in 2008, SOME PEOPLE ARE SO INTOXICATED WITH POWER THAT THEY ARE FALLING OVER EACH OTHER TO IDENTIFY RAWLINGS BOYS IN THE NDC WHO ARE THE ENEMIES WITHIN AND MUST NOT GET ANY JOBS in Mills government. Despite all these open humiliations – No CADRE WILL MOVE AN INCH from the NDC Party – it is now or never.
The NDC must wake up. Is anybody listening? The NDC must change for the Better.
Aluta Continua
Clement Sangaparee
Municipal Organizer
United Cadres Front
C/O Box 32, Obuasi
E-mail: [email protected]
Distribution
All Media Houses
Accra