WHY THE NPP LOST ELECTION 2008 - MY OPINION

Ever since the NPP lost election 2008 to the NDC, many members of the party have come out with what in their opinion, led to the defeat of the party. I have read features from party members on this topic and those of Mustapha Hamid and Arthur Kennedy readily comes to mind. In most of these features, the blame seem to have been put squarely on former President Kuffour and taking the blame from party executives and the campaign team of Nana Addo.

Let me state here that am not a member of the NPP. My take on this topic is largely a contribution to the advancement of multi- part democracy in the country, because of what is going on in the party and especially the features I have read in the media from NPP members about what they think led to their defeat. In doing this, I hope to offer from the perspective of an outsider, what contributed to the partys defeat.

1. Chief among the reasons the NPP lost power in 2008 and which the NPP seem to overlook is the calibre of people who made up their campaign teams. Some Campaign team members especially those from Bawumia's team who often came from Accra to the North to campaign, really cost the NPP a lot of votes. I do not want to mention names but can do so at anytime. These guys would come from their Accra and stay in expensive hotels, always eager to mention and stress on the hotels they were staying. They would go to the bars and talk big, snap their hands, order expensive drinks and go after girls. People were complaining and i sometimes wondered if they were really serious about the campaigning and if the NPP had a partial research or monitoring team to let them know what the boys were doing on the ground. I guess like their boss Nana Addo, they were also very confident of winning. They would take CV's of friends in the north with the pretext of helping them find jobs and dump them in their pickups showing them to girls saying ' don't mind him, that is even his CV, his disturbing me to find him a job' all to get into their panties whenever they came down to the north. The young members of the NPP campaign team down north too did not help matters. They bragged and went after other peoples girls with their campaign cash. The youth down north heard, saw and discussed about all these and it particularly cost the NPP a hell lot of the youth votes down north. The NDC too had 'small boys' but maybe because they were in opposition, they comported themselves well. Nana Addo should be careful those he chooses to be members of his campaign team in 2012 especially the 'small boys'.

2. Bawumia's choice never really enhanced the ticket. Nana should have picked someone who came with votes; after all, that is what wins elections in Ghana. I want to believe Nana was so sure he was going to win that he did not consider greatly, the votes issue. He should have chosen someone who brought competence and votes. Bawumia brought only competence and not votes. The NPP even lost at Bawumia's hometown so what kind of candidate was he?

3. Some of the decisions the NPP made especially in 2008 led to their defeat. Example, the purchase of the presidential jets, building of the presidential palace and the last minute rush decisions they took after round one like the reduction in fuel prices and the pair trawling hullabaloo. This is were former president kuffour should take some bashing but not from NPP members. Why? These questions will help answer why. Did kuffour take all those decisions alone? If not, why are the NPP writers now bashing kuffour for that? When did they know those decisions were wrong? If before round two, why didn't they speak out but only came out after they had lost? We all heard the NPP as a party and government officials including Nana Addo's boys actively defending all these policies so when did they have the change of mind?

4. The arrogance of some of their members and how they always literally insulted Ghanaians is another reason why they lost election 2008. The likes of Mpiani, Gabby Asare, Asamoah Boateng, Kennedy Agyepong, Kwabena Agyapong, Ohene Ntow and Nana Addo himself didn't help matters. Nana Addo as a person lacks humility. He was pompous and moving from country to country as if he was president. The NPP did nothing to dispel the notion their key members were arrogant and many at times, seem to even reinforce that notion. Nana Addo, surrounded himself with so many 'kuffour haters' like Osafo Marfo, Apraku and the 'Akyem Mafia' yet expected Kuffour and those 'friendly' to him to give out their best. NO! Infact, no sane person will do that and its surprising to hear Nana Addo boys keep blaming Kuffour for their defeat.

5. Another factor that also contributed to the NPP's defeat was the issue of corruption. It became clear that after eight years in power, the level of corruption be it real or perceived, had become too much. Not to mention names, we all saw people who prior to NPP coming into power were 'nobodys', suddenly building mansions and driving expensive cars. Worst of all, they flaunted their ill gotten wealth right in our faces. I have a friend who always said ' NPP or NDC, them all go chop but NDC people go hide them chopping not like NPP who will chop in our faces'.

6. The extravagant manner the NPP went about with their campaign didn't help them much either and heavily contributed to their defeat. We all saw the number of musicians they paid to travel round the country with them, the big ford vehicles with heavily mounted musical systems and expensive bill boards everywhere. Did they know Ghanaians will wonder where they had the money? They conducted their campaign in a very vulgar manner and people discussed it and asked questions. Unfortunately, they had no effective monitoring, research and information gathering team to provide them genuine and unadulterated information. Shame on their campaign strategists!!

In looking for reasons why they lost power, I advice the NPP to take a holistic look at the issues and stop putting all the blame on ex-President Kuffour. Kuffour like many other individuals in the party might have contributed to their defeat but the blame rests solely and largely on the NPP as a party, Nana Addo and his campaign team. They should check themselves and stop putting all the blame on ex President Kuffour as most of Nana Addo's people want us to believe. Long live multi party democracy in Ghana.

JOHN MUSAH. [email protected]

Ghana / Africa / Modernghana.com