Stop This Madness In NPP

Yes, conflicts are part of human lives and occur on a daily basis, but it is the management of those conflicts which makes the difference. Last Tuesday was a very sad day for me. I watched the scuffle which went on at the NPP Headquarters and I could not bring myself to believe it in these hard times when the world is banking its hopes on the NPP to salvage the very deteriorating health of this otherwise great country. What triggered the fight between two young party members, I cannot fathom. The talk about the presence of machetes and their use or misuse, I did not see, since the Television Network I watched beaming the incidence live did not show the machete wielding party members.

I must also say that this is not the first time in 2014, NOTE, 2014, that such a major conflict which could have turned fatal at our own party's headquarters, has happened. Before the fight between the two young people occurred, the party's National Chairman and the General Secretary were holding a press conference to explain a decision the General Secretary, and perhaps the Chairman, had taken earlier which had generated controversies not only from the affected person, but members of the National Steering Committee of the party as well. The National Steering Committee is made up of the national officers elected by the party at the National Delegates Conference—in this case, those elected in Tamale last February and those Deputies and other appointed officers provided by the NPP Constitution.

The decision by the General Secretary to ask Perry Okudzeto to proceed on leave, ostensibly to be re-assigned on resumption, was not known to the members of the Steering Committee. This perhaps elicited responses from other executive members and some members of the party, which perhaps were unsavoury to the General Secretary. He therefore decided to 'clarify' the decision he took. It is the attempt to 'clarify' the decision taken earlier, through Tuesday's press conference, which did not go down well with some of the party people who had gathered at the party office. The resulting debates which reportedly ensued degenerated into a fight. As I said earlier, I did not see the machetes. But the physical fight itself at the party's headquarters was bad enough.

I must declare my assets before I move forward with what I am going to say. In Tamale, I voted Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong for an effective and courageous leadership, a leadership with vision, strategies and commitment to win, not only the 2016 elections, but to save this country from the continued descent into abyss. I still believe that these two gentlemen can work effectively with other members of the Executive to achieve our set goals, but at the moment, I must say that I am highly disappointed in my General Secretary, and by extension the new Executive. However the ultimate responsibility must rest with the Chairman and the General Secretary.

Kwabena, as the administrator of the party, you take a decision that binds your colleagues in the Committee without consulting them, they complain that they know nothing about that decision which had become so controversial and had taken centre stage in media discussions, must you resort to a press conference to explain why you took those decisions without recourse to the Steering Committee members, and by extension the National Executive Committee and the National Council?

What stopped you from discussing the issue at an emergency Steering Committee meeting with your Chairman, in the wake of the 'misunderstanding' amongst party followers and even some members of the National Executive Committee, to explain and convince your colleagues on the Committee to understand the position you took, rather than the two of you organising a press conference ostensibly against the rest of the members of the Committee? How do you expect the members of your committee to take your public explanations to a decision which by all intents and purposes should have been collectively taken at a meeting?

Article 9 (F) V of the party's Constitution does not give the General Secretary of the party the powers of arbitrariness in the running of the affairs of the party. Kwabena, you act on the directives of the National Executive Committee or the National Chairperson. You also know that 'the National Executive Committee shall be responsible for directing and overseeing the operations and activities of the Party.' (Article 9, C. 1) This means that even the directions from the Chairperson to you must be founded on directives from the National Executive Committee.

Being the CEO of the party does not, in my view, give you the overall powers in making decision which affect the fortunes of the party, for good or for ill.  Kwabena, are you not worried by the fact that within the six months of your leadership, the party has been subjected to more needless and image damaging internal controversies—two of which turned bloody—than it has ever recorded since it was formed? Six months after coming into office, the new Executive has not attained its full complement of members as prescribed by the party's Constitution. In its stead, what seems very frivolous and petty but image destructive is what is going on—unfortunate acts which divert the nation from the deadly economic malaise confronting it today.

No matter what differences might exist between individual members of the party, a hallmark of a good leader is his or her ability to get those who may even disagree with him to think in the same direction as he or she does, with the aim of achieving set goals and objectives. If there happens to be conflict each time a leader acts or speaks, that leader should examine his or her own management style. Kwabena, you may have the best of intentions in the running of the party, but if your decisions are not welcomed in many instances by your peers, then the problem is likely to be your style. A good leader is the one who builds and not the one who destroys.

Any such issue of the party as we are discussing now, that occurs churn the intestines of sympathisers of the party and the suffering mass of our people whose only hope and patience hinge on the NPP coming into power. This is not the time to create uncertainty in the minds of our people when even the NDC people themselves know that they have failed.  Let's get our acts together and do what is right for the party, especially in our quest to wrest political power from the NDC to change the misfortunes of Ghanaians.

DR.WAMPAH AND EBO BARTON-ODRO
Dr. Kofi Wampah is the Governor of the Bank of Ghana; he has gone down the history of this country as the governor who opened up the vaults of the BoG to a political party in power to siphon GH¢8 billion for the purposes of winning an election. Those monies did not go into road constructions, hospitals, water provision or schools. He subsequently brings in very painful measures to deal with his mess, which further destroys the economy. He is still sitting there as the Governor. Ghanaians are asking him to resign, so he should be gracious to leave the Bank.

Ebo Barton- Odro, the Deputy Speaker of the law making body of this country, is himself a law breaker. He caused the loss of millions of Ghana cedis to the nation and the loss is still counting. He has no business being where he is, he must resign as well.

I am on strike per mahogany bitters because of what happened in my party this week.

 From Kwesi Biney