The Morning After The Congress (Part 1)

After the in-fighting, insults, anger, bribery, loose talks and threats, the NPP Delegates' Congress has come and gone peacefully.

Apart from the shooting incident which was undoubtedly committed by some untouchables in a certain party noted for violence, all those who attended the congress went to their respective homes with joy.

There is a job to be completed and the job to complete is to take over power and not only to rule but to rule well to bring smiles on the faces of Ghanaians.

The truth is that all the national officers who were elected deserve their respective positions.  The watchword should be UNITY.

Because I have a soft spot in my angelic heart for women, permit me to begin with Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, the NPP National Women's Organizer.

She won narrowly and that should send a message to her that she must work so hard to earn the confidence of party supporters at the grassroots. Being a potent women organizer takes more than looking beautiful, walking gorgeously in designer clothes and living in luxury in Accra.

When she wanted the position, she spent time to visit delegates in all the constituencies, stayed with them and even ate the type of food that they eat in their homes.  She pretended she was part of them.  That was what she did the first time around but sadly when she got the power, she became a Women's Organizer who organized from the national capital.  That was why she nearly lost the position.

If she had come down to the people at the grassroots level she would have known that some of her Constituency Women Organizers were doing absolutely nothing.  They wait until there was a congress, a meeting or election where they seize the opportunity to cook food for delegates, visitors or polling station agents.  In fact, that is where they make their money at the expense of organizing women to vote for the party.

Women in the party became disillusioned and angry because when any money is sent to the constituencies for women to share, like loans, it landed on the laps of women organizers who shared it among their favourites and family members. Some women organizers were snobbish and treated party members with disdain and contempt.

That was why many women in the NPP showed apathy on the day of voting.  In short, some of the Women Organizers turned out to be women disorganizers.

Sammy Awuku looks so handsome for a National Youth Organizer but he will also fail if he toes the lines of some of his predecessors.  Some of them saw Accra as synonymous to Ghana. Instead of going out there to organize the youth at the grassroots, they stayed in Accra and rub shoulders with 'big' men and women and dine and shop at prestigious places in Accra.

They only go to the constituencies when there is going to be an election.  I like the humility of Sammy but this is not the time for kid gloves, ties and suits.  The guy should put off his custom-made clothes and go for khaki 'up and down' like a member of Kwame Nkrumah's Workers Brigade, lace his boots and hit the ground running like a hare.

John Boadu can talk and analyze issues objectively but sadly those are not the attributes of a good National Organizer.  If John should keep his ears to the ground, he will know that some of his predecessors like their women organizer counterparts were rather national disorganizers.

Because of lack of supervision, almost all the motorbikes and other logistics sent to the constituencies to do party work were commandeered by some party executive officers for their own parochial agenda.  Some of them even sold the motorbikes and used the money to do their own business.  Boadu can begin by asking past regional organizers to submit a list of logistics that they sent to the constituencies and ask them to find out whether these logistics are still there.

If John Boadu wants to succeed, he should be prepared to step on toes.  This is not to say he should go out there trampling on the toes of innocent party men and women.  There are many ways of killing a cat rather than fusing its nose with gunpowder.

The first time I saw Kwabena Agyapong, the newly-elected General Secretary of the NPP, I had pain in my heart. His father was among the three High Court judges who were brutally murdered by the PNDC junta. He has come a long way from the days he used to sell doughnut to becoming the Spokesperson of President Kufuor and now the General Secretary of the biggest opposition party.

Kwabena will never forget the pain that he went through when his father was murdered but he must forgive and concentrate on helping the party come to power.  That will be a befitting honour to his departed father. In doing this, he must steer away from boisterous polemics and prodigal verbal showmanship and rather adopt mild reasoning, refinement of language, decent presentation of conflicting opinions and analytical exposes.  Kwabena should let Ghanaians know the difference between the son of a judge of the High Court and the son of a palm wine tapper from Seikwa.

The NPP has been losing at the zongos because the party has not taken time to study the voters there. If we think the zongos are dominated by Muslims alone, we are doing a big mistake.  In some zongos, non-Muslims are more than the Muslims.  A very few Frafras, Dagabas, Grushies etc who also live at the zongos are Muslims. Majority of them are either Christians or animists.

Over the years, the Nasara Club has not been able to appreciate votes at the zongos because they target only Muslims. If the party should win the zongos, then the Nasara Club must change its modus operandi. If they do not want to mix up with the Christians or animists at the zongos then there is the need to form another club to carter for these Christians and animists in the zongos.

If Kamal Deen Abdullai wants to succeed as the National Co-ordinator of the Nasara Club, he must think about the foregoing. The NDC uses the people of the zongo like the way a farmer uses a hoe. The farmer will use the hoe to farm during the rainy season and hang it on a tree until another rainy season.  The NDC too will use the people of the zongos during elections and treat them with contempt when they come to power.

Hon. Freddy Blay, my boss, is coming on board with a very vast experience and that should work magic for the party.  Even though he was a former Nkrumaist, he saw in the NPP a capitalist party that practices socialism and loved the party. Even before he was elected as the 1 st  National Chairman of the NPP, he used his newspaper to propagate the gospel according to NPP.  The man is level-headed, hardworking, respected, respectable and very industrious.

It is not for nothing that the DAILY GUIDE is the best selling private newspaper in Ghana. If he brings his managerial acumen to his office I can bet with my last dying Cedi that the NPP will grab power one more time.  At the congress grounds his name was ringing like a bell.  That showed how the delegates admired this fine gentleman.

Paul Afoko must thank God for the election of Uncle Freddy as his 1 st  Vice Chairman because his job will be made easier with such a man supporting him.

As for Mr. Paul Afoko, the National Chairman of the NPP, his task is very herculean. His first task is to work to earn the respect and trust of the party supporters. He must prove to party supporters that he is for the NPP but not for Alan or Nana. Any small thing that he will do or say to indicate that he supports any of the two gentlemen will earn him insults.  At the constituency and regional levels there are fires burning under the grass after the constituency and regional elections.

Mr. Afoko must identify those areas and nip the trouble in the bud because a divided army can never win battles. When nomination is opened for people to pick forms to contest the presidential primaries, Mr. Afoko should look the other way and allow contestants to slug it out among themselves.

For now he is the captain of the ship and he must make sure the ship sails smoothly through this stormy weather.

Excuse me while I light up my Havana Cigar.
Eric Bawah