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02.09.2014 Feature Article

Oh No, Chairman!

Oh No, Chairman!
02.09.2014 LISTEN

An undeniable fact, it is, that a person that rules the roost in a house holds monumental sway over the people in the house. Based on that, it is advisable that he or she does not behave in an ignoble manner. In the same vein, a person that occupies a political position in a country, whether in power or opposition, holds sway in one way or the other in the country.

Hence, such a person is expected to exercise caution and circumspection in his or her actions. It is a pity, therefore, that the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Paul Afoko is reported to have "... openly displayed the candidate he had endorsed to another party activist before dropping it in the ballot box" (See "Afoko Courts Controversy; Openly Displays His Vote", Peacefmonline.com/Ghanaweb 31st August 2014), in the just ended Super Delegates Congress.

Not impolite, it is, to trumpet that the exercise was conducted in accordance with the dictates of the constitution of the Great "Osono" party. As articulated by the party's General Secretary, Mr Kwabena Agyepong: "We respect our constitution. [It] dictates to us that this was the first stage and now we have the five candidates that will go on to the second stage" (See "October Congress won't be Cancelled - Kwabena Agyepong", citifmonline.com, 1st September, 2014). Thus, it was conducted out of sheer respect for the party's constitution.

The question which then arises is: Did Mr Afoko do that out of sheer respect for the constitution of the party? Perhaps out of grandiose disregard for the party's constitution. I guess it stipulates that each delegate has the right to support any member. But it definitely does not permit the Chairman to show "... his thumb-printed ballot paper to his body-guard in the full glare of other bystanders ... [an] ... action which took the timely intervention of the Ghana Police Service to calm nerves ... at the College of Engineering Auditorium where delegates from the Ashanti Region were partaking in the voting process" (See "Afoko Courts Controversy; Openly Displays His Vote", Peacefmonline.com/Ghanaweb 31st August 2014).

It behoves Chairman Afoko to demonstrate to all and sundry that his ascension to that office was by means of his political astuteness and not sheer happenstance, as such a behaviour depicts. The remarkable political niche he has carved for himself in the New Patriotic Party is what has earned him a place in the pantheon of leadership of the party. Therefore, for a man of his calibre to have exhibited such an inexplicable aberration is not something anyone should try to defend or sweep under the carpet. In addition to vociferously condemning that behaviour, he must be advised to proceed slowly and cautiously in the discharge of his duties, for, this is not the first time he is being accused of indulging in an act which is detrimental to the fortunes of the "Osono" party.

Yeah, such accusations offer people the golden opportunity to ask questions about the preparedness and seriousness of your party in being at the helm of affairs of the country, Mr Chairman. That is to say, if a Chairman's actions procreate unnecessary fracas in a political party, tongues begin to wag. What was Mr Afoko trying to achieve? That voting in the country should no longer be shrouded in secrecy? Was he trying to exhibit high level of belligerence? What will the party be telling the youth of today? That the party entertains lawlessness and squabbles in its internal elections? Should the youth of today and the sympathisers of the party emulate the Chairman?

Thus, it is monumentally quixotic for a party which is incapable of settling such petty internal squabbles (and uniting its own members) to claim to have the needed arrow-head to unite the whole country and solve the innumerable economic problems the country is saddled with. In that context, Mr Odoi Sykes, a former Chairman of the party hits the nail on the head with the assertion that it is only when "the party unites to form a formidable force with the right resources ... [that it] ... will be able to wrestle power from the governing National Democratic Congress" (See "We Must Unite or Risk Losing 2016 - Odoi Sykes", citifmonline.com/Ghanaweb, 1st September, 2014), before attempting to save Ghana from this current morass of economic denudation.

So the message is simple, Chairman Paul Afoko. Please, refrain from indulging in ignoble acts and work around the clock to unite the members of your party, and that, I think, is a moral prudence.

Kwabena Aboagye-Gyan

([email protected])

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