Leadership and responsibility.

First of all I would want to see the NPP family not discouraging divergent or dissenting voices within the home. We must all remain steadfast in tolerance- that hallowed doctrine which weeds the path of a free, principled and liberal society.The truth is that ever since the NPP lost power (or gave away power on a silver platter), any attempt to make inputs into the parties internal affairs has been hushed down by some party faithful, fearing that such inputs will bring "divisions and factionalism".

As a young boy my father made me believe the Danquah-Busia-Dombo Tradition is liberal in outlook and believe in the creation of a just, free, humane and tolerant society. He told me the tradition believe that people are entitled to their beliefs and opinions though such opinions may be contrary to the beliefs and opinion of others. I sometimes believe I am a member of the NPP because primarily the party allows one to express one's self in a fashion that supports his basic Principles. I have a feeling we should depart from these principles.

Freedom of speech in our party would be easy if all of us could be trusted to be rational discerners of truth—if everyone could be trusted to sort out good ideas from bad ideas and recognise acts that are truly aimed at the best interests of the NPP.

I know I have always been spot-on on issues. After all, why must I belong to NPP? The Akans have an adage which says that when you see a bad thing in-between the thighs of your mother, it is not wrong for you to take it away with your "Moses Rod".

On my topic for today, I wish to say the best thing that ever happened to me is joining a group that share ideas on many issues. One of the issues discussed was leadership and responsibility vis-à-vis Ex-President Kufours statement that he was not responsible for NPP's loss of the last election. The arguments were varied.

One of us argued that no one can reasonably blame the outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso personally or alone for the Liberal Democratic Parties (LDP's) historic defeat in the just-ended elections in Japan.�There are no doubt multiple and diverse reasons and explanations why the Japanese decided to send the LDP into opposition; many of these reasons have a longer history than the tenure of the outgoing Prime Minister. Yet, as the man on whose watch the LDP suffered its defeat, outgoing Prime Minister Aso did the responsible, statesmanly and politically-correct thing by accepting responsibility for the party's loss and apologising to the party faithful and the nation for the disappointment.

In our case, there is no doubt that the last elections were fought both on the eight-year record of Kufuor's Presidency and on the candidacy of Nana Addo. In a sense, then, the 2008 elections were simultaneously a referendum on Kufuor's eight-year stewardship and a vote on the suitability or likability of Nana Akufo Addo. Some would even argue that it was more the former than the latter, after all Nana Addo campaign explicitly on a promise of "continuity"--on continuing and building upon the Kufuor record.

Why, then, would President J.A. Kufuor publicly disclaim any responsibility for the NPP's defeat at the polls? Ex-President J.A. Kufuor, speaking to Kwaku Sekyi-Addo on TV3's Kweku-One-On-One about a week ago said to the best of his knowledge, intent and ability, he did his best to ensure that Nana Akufo-Addo won the said elections but the results of the polls proved otherwise.

He explained that, “democracy is not always rational”, and in many instances, voters support a candidate or a party for reasons based on sentiments rather than logic. “I would tell you that as a person, I do not feel responsible for it at all; I did my best for my party and my candidate but if the people decide to vote otherwise, I cannot be responsible for that”, Kufuor emphasised.

This is like Bush saying that he had no responsibility whatsoever for the defeat of the Republicans in the 2008 United States elections.�Sure, McCain was the candidate, and the quality of McCain's candidacy and his campaign cannot be absolved of some of the responsibility for his defeat. But, Sarah Palinand all of McCain's weaknesses notwithstanding, it would be rather odd to say the least, if Bush were to disclaim any responsibility for why the Republicans (not just McCain's Presidential bid) suffered a trouncing in the November 2008 United States Elections.

Bush has been silent since the day the Republicans were defeated. Why? He is aware that he is despised by Americans of all political affiliation and there is no doubt that Bush will be remembered as one of the worst Presidents in the history of the United States. In fact he was a mediocre person with powerful supporters who used him as their front man to run the country, more aptly, to run the country into the ground.

If Kufuor cannot emulate the example of the outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Aso and accept his share of responsibility for the NPP's loss in 2008, and if he cannot maintain a statesman-like silence on this issue like Bush has done, then, for the sake of the NPP's internal unity and future prospects, he should not insist on his own piety.

It seems obvious that President Kufuor cannot see himself as ever responsible for anything that happened to the NPP, other than the victory of the party in 2000 and 2004! Winston Churchill once said that "The price of greatness is responsibility."

Source: Mahama Haruna

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