*Introducing Sekou:*
Sekou Nkrumah, the brother of the Chairperson of the CPP has acquired the unenviable reputation of a *wannabe political assassin,* for attacks on his sister and his use of every opportunity to run her down in print and on electronic media. These unwarranted and often vicious attacks which started when Samia came to Ghana to stake a claim to a political life in Ghana, the land of their birth have continued to this day. It is a matter of public record that Sekou stated with confidence that Samia had no chance of winning in Jomoro and that, he has, in a complete about turn, now referred to Jomoro as a safe seat!
It is my view that Sekou’s views on his sister are always flawed from a factual point of view, malicious in spirit and wrong morally. In that sense Sekou is neither a credible political analyst nor someone who acts on principle. I will seek to illustrate his ineptitude as a political commentator and the maliciousness of his actions. Hatred, jealousy and misinformation cannot masquerade as political opinion. Dear reader, kindly think of three (3) questions as we proceed: Is it possible to see Sekou as a parasite that feeds on the success of his sister to give himself a platform? Does he think he is wiser than the people of Jomoro and the CPP who have reposed their confidence in Samia? And, is it not the case that his only qualification to speak is a shared surname?
In the latest outburst from this gentleman (Sekou) who has over the past few years gained notoriety for his dubious political choices, he has described his sister as politically immature and stated without any evidence that she is being taken advantage of by certain persons in the CPP for their selfish ends.
Prior to this, and in the period preceding the CPP Congress to elect a Chairperson in September this year, Sekou gave his biased views freely to whoever was listening. On the day she filed her nomination forms to contest the position of Chairperson and leader, Sekou could be seen giving interviews to the press at the CPP HQ. At every turn he gave pessimistic and dim views about Samia’s prospects and ability to lead the CPP. This negativity continued well into the two-day Congress that elected her Chairperson. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that her landslide victory proved how wrong he is at analysing political trends. In all the time he has been in Ghana, he has acquired the dubious capacity of a political grasshopper, hopping from the CPP to the NDC, on whose ticket he was appointed head of the National Youth Council upon the assumption of office by the Mills administration.
He resigned his post after a short while, left the NDC and started hobnobbing with the NPP’s presidential candidate, Nana Akuffo Addo. In the kind of logic that only Sekou understands, readers might remember him announcing that he left the NDC so as not to be seen as “an obstacle to her ambition and to those who are trying to revive the CPP because my position has always been that the NDC has captured the CPP constituency and therefore, the NDC is the biggest block to the revival of the CPP”, hisopen support of the NPP flag bearer and his undermining of his sister only show how his mind works. A better example of cheap politics would be hard to find.
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*Making common cause with Anti-Nkrumaist forces:*
Some have described his constant sniping at and denigration of his sister which have now assumed obsessive proportions of late, as sibling jealousy. Be that as it may, Sekou clearly to all intents and purposes, appears to have made common cause with those within and without the CPP who are intent on ruining his sister’s attempts at reforming and re-organising the party. At a more fundamental level, the campaign to vilify Hon Samia by Sekou and his ilk show that those behind it do not respect her position as the Leader of the CPP and her mission – a mission to reconnect the party to its grassroots, instil discipline within its ranks as well as ensure accountability and transparency, all in the process of making the party more credible as a political force in Ghana and abroad.
The mission of these opponents appears to be “no change, business as usual” and anything that goes against this way of thinking is a threat to their interests; interests that have contributed to the poor showing of the CPP at the polls. For them it is not about the CPP or the people of Ghana. It is just about themselves and their narrow, small-minded and selfish interests.
*Sekou’s malicious disrespect of facts and contradictory character:*
In a recent press interview on November 2011, he alleged that the delay in going to Congress to elect the party’s flag bearer was due to the presidential ambitions her sister, Hon Samia, was harbouring for 2016. This is patently false as well as misleading, as the party has made it clear that organisational and logistical considerations precluded an immediate holding of election of the flag bearer so soon after the national executive was elected. Various interpretations had been put on constitutional provisions regarding the date for the holding of the congress to elect the flag bearer. The fact however is that the coming into being of the new constitution was not preceded by transitional provisions to clarify when to hold congress. Sekou’s assertions are therefore false and Hon Samia has made it very clear that she has no presidential ambitions for 2016, so one wonders where Sekou has his information from, if his claim to the contrary is to be taken seriously.
*What is very clear from these outbursts is that Sekou Nkrumah has little or no respect for his sister, her political choices and her democratic right, not only to air her views, but also act on them*. This is very strange coming from a man whose sister has to date never said a bad word about him in public, stating, anytime she has been asked, that family matters should remain family matters, thereby demonstrating not only her sisterly love but a great sense of maturity. She is not the one for loose talk and many were those who waited with bated breath as she rode the recent storm of insults and attacks on her in public. Talk is cheap and it is very easy for people to call on her to exercise restraint in the face of such attacks and expect her not to respond. But respond she did this time.
The absurdity of Sekou’s depiction of her as immature is all the more evident in the light of her measured riposte to her detractors. It has to be stated in no uncertain terms that Hon Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah has her own mind and nothing and nobody can change her mind when it is made up. Not even Sekou, her younger brother, can deny her the right to make her own decisions and stick to them. The fact that Hon Samia is his sister does not make him privy to any of her plans. *Since Sekou is neither her advisor nor calls her to discuss politics one can only assume that his views about her plans are all imaginary and based on falsehood. And, that any authority he claims is because of their shared parentage. *In any case, she would be imprudent to trust her thoughts and plans to an obviously unstable personality like Sekou.
*Samia the Leader:*
In sharp contrast to her brother, Samia has remained faithful to the Nkrumaist vision and pledged her life toward its realisation. This is remarkable given the fact that she had lived outside Ghana for long stretches of time and could have chosen not to return home, let alone embark on a political career. She has succeeded in being elected a member of parliament for Jomoro and is now Chairperson of the CPP and is the first woman in Ghanaian history to lead a political party. She has chosen to be in the CPP and nowhere else as a matter of principle. Sekou would therefore do himself a world of good to take a leaf from her example and state what his political views are and act on them instead of continually sniping at her from the sidelines.
Hon Samia Nkrumah, as MP, has initiated and overseen the completion of several projects to her name in her Jomorro constituency. As head of the National Youth Council, Sekou Nkrumah does not appear to have any initiative, concept or programme as a lasting monument to his name. Again neither at Legon where he worked, nor at the Du Bois Centre did he particularly make an impression.
Sekou should also have known better than to claim that her entry into parliament was due to the fact that she was the daughter of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. As those who accompanied Samia throughout the campaign would confirm, Hon Samia Nkrumah came against the formidable personality of Hon Lee Ocran, the sitting MP (NDC) as well as the sitting District Chief Executive (NPP). She won a hard fought election that also saw her poll the highest percentage of CPP votes. She just did not turn up with the message “Please vote for me, I am Kwame Nkrumah’s daughter.” She won by the force of argument and political strategy.
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*Beware of Sekou:*
Samia’s record speaks for itself and those who, out of political expediency, want to latch on to the vile rants of a man whose life story is riddled with instability and controversy had better advise themselves. The man is a loose cannon with a loose tongue and those who think he is serving their interest now better beware; they could be the next victim of his unbridled tongue. The neutrals in this should also see Sekou for what he is: a disgruntled man who seeks fame by attacking his sister and an unwitting agent in the bid to derail the revival of the CPP which his sister so magnificently represents. May the good people of Ghana ignore this attempt at political assassination and let us all support the possibility of another force in Ghanaian politics. Good luck Hon Samia Yaba Nkrumah, don’t mind Sekou!
Kweku Dadzie
ABLEKUMA South Youth Organiser
[email protected]