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11.02.2016 Feature Article

NPP Must Know The Differences And Similarities Between 2000, 2008 And 2016 Presidential Elections

NPP Must Know The Differences And Similarities Between 2000, 2008 And 2016 Presidential Elections
11.02.2016 LISTEN

Since Ghana returned to democratic governance under the Fourth Republic, there are many features that run through the changes in governments. One such key feature is the change in governments after two terms of governance by either the NDC or NPP. After former President J.J Rawlings of the NDC ruled Ghana for two terms of eight years between January 7, 1993 and January 7, 2001, there was a change in government in the 2000 general elections. Former President J.A. Kufour of the NPP took over from former President J.J Rawlings on January 7, 2001.

After Former President J. A. Kufour ruled for two terms of eight years, there was another change in government in the 2008 general elections. Former President John Evans Atta Mills of blessed memory took over the reins of governance from Former President J. A. Kufour on January 7, 2009. Very unfortunately, Former President J. E. A Mills passed in July 2012 without completing one term of four years. In accordance with the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, then Vice- President, John Dramani Mahama took over as the next President of Ghana.

For me, this singular event i.e. President John Mahama taking over from the uncompleted tenure of office (of less than six months) of Former President J.E.A Mills could change the usual change in governments between the NDC and the NPP in every eight years since 1992. My readership might disagree with me but I would urge my readership to hold their horses so that I would explain the reasons why I hold this view.

To explain my reasons for holding this view, I would entreat my readership to take note of the similarities between 2000 and 2008 presidential elections. In the 2000 elections, a sitting president in the person of J.J Rawlings of the NDC who had ruled for eight years was not contesting in the elections. His Vice, Prof. J.E.A Mills, was contesting the 2000 elections with former President J.A Kufour as his major contender. In the same vein, in 2008, a sitting President in the person of J.A Kufour who had ruled for eight years was not also in the race.

Former President J.A. Kufour’s foreign affairs Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, contested the elections with Late Prof. J.E.A. Mills of the NDC as his major contender. The point of departure between 2000 and 2008 presidential elections on one hand and the 2016 presidential election on the other hand is that, in the 2016 elections, we are going to have a sitting president, John Dramani Mahama, who has ruled for four years as a President of Ghana but whose party has been in power for the past 7+ years participating in the November 7, 2016 presidential election. Nobody should be quick to tell me that this does not make any difference since President John Mahama was Vice- President and later became President at the tail end of the first term of the NDC government under former President J.E.A Mills. Those who reason like this might have to revise their notes.

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana could help this category of people who think that eight years of NDC government equals eight years of H.E John Dramani Mahama being in power as President of Ghana. For easy reference, I quote article 60, clauses 6 and 7.

“(6) Whenever the President dies, resigns or is removed from office the Vice-President shall assume office as President for the unexpired term of office of the President with effect from the date of the death, resignation or removal of the President.

(7) Where the unexpired term served by the Vice-President under clause (6) of this article exceeds half the term of a President, the President is subsequently only eligible to serve one full term as President.” I hope this cures the mischief of those who deliberately or ignorantly assume that eight years of NDC government equals eight years of H.E John Dramani Mahama being in power as President of Ghana.

At this point my readership may be wondering what the ramifications of the differences and similarities between 2000, 2008 and 2016 Presidential elections are as far as the November 7, 2016 Presidential Election is concerned. For me as an ordinary election observer, these differences and similarities would surely inure to the benefit of President John Dramani Mahama in particular and the NDC in general as a party if these differences and similarities are utilized well. My reasons? My reasons are not far-fetched. President John Mahama would not have the problems associated with being a sitting President without being a flag bearer of his party after eight years of NDC government.

We all heard and sometimes saw what transpired between former Presidents J.J Rawlings and Prof. J.E.A Mills in the run-up to the 2000 presidential elections and the propaganda that was associated with such happenings. One of such propaganda that was used by the NPP against late Prof. J.E.A Mills in the 2000 elections which somewhat yielded the expected results for the NPP was the assertion that a vote for then candidate J.E.A. Mills was a vote for then President J.J Rawlings.

This saw late President J.E.A Mills doing everything possible to prove that he was not tied to the apron strings of former President J.J Rawlings. Some of these actions and inactions were very detrimental to the political fortunes of Prof. J.EA Mills and the NDC as a whole. One of such actions was the imposition of parliamentary candidates on some constituencies across the country which caused a lot disaffection among grassroots of the NDC as a party. The cumulative effect of the spitefulness that existed between and among the rank and file and top party leaders of the NDC in the 2000 election was that the party lost the election which the party could have won easily based on the past achievements and potential achievements of the party in the future.

We did also observe what happened when former President J.A Kufour was a sitting President after eight years of ruling Ghana on the ticket of the NPP while Nana Akuffo Addo was the Presidential candidate in 2008. Coupled with the Dankwa-Busia theory associated with the long standing disunity in the NPP, the seemingly bad blood that existed and still exists between former President J.A Kufour and candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo stemmed/stems from the former’s bold, obvious and unflinching support for Allan Kyeremanteng in the NPP’s glamorous presidential primaries that took place on the University of Ghana campus in 2007.

This curious event led to suspicions and counter-suspicions from defeated candidate Allan Kyeremanteng/President Kufour’s camp on one hand and candidate Nana Addo’s camp on the other hand. We are all witnesses to the results of such power play between the Dankwa and Busia factions within the NPP.

The final results of the power play that existed between the Dankwa and Busia factions in the 2008 Presidential elections was manifested in the last runoff that took place in Tain. Dr. Arthur Kennedy in his book titled “Chasing The Elephant Into The Bush: The Politics Of Complacency” recounts that a day before the vote in Tain, former President Kufour told a gathering including candidate Nana Addo at the palace of the Omanhene of Wenchi that due to the circumstances pertaining in Tain, “there is going to be no vote in Tain”. Dr. Arthur Kennedy concludes his observation as far as the Tain runoff was concerned by posing four (4) very critical questions.

These questions are; Why could the President not go to TAIN? If it was not safe for him to go, why could the vote take place? Why did the NPP Candidate not go to TAIN? Why did President Kufuor announce at Wenchi that there would be no vote in TAIN when he did not know that for a fact? Why did the party that wrestled power from the NDC in 2000 allow power to be wrestled from them despite having the security forces under its control (Arthur Kennedy, 2009:149)? Just as the NDC lost the 2000 elections to the NPP out of spitefulness, the NPP lost the 2008 election out of the same spitefulness but the NPP’s type of spitefulness was deep- seated and still haunting the party as I type this article.

This article, however, does not seek to oversimplify the chances of the NDC and NPP in the November 7, 2016 elections. It rather seeks to point out the dynamics involved in the 2000 and 2008 Presidential election and the dynamics that are at play in the 2016 Presidential elections.

I believe strongly that the results of the 2016 Presidential election would be based on Former President Bill Clinton’s assertion that “Elections are always about the future, not the past.” So whether the NPP or NDC would be declared winners in this year’s Presidential Election would depend on whether the Ghanaian Electorates have confidence in the NPP or NDC going into the future.

Kpirko Wenceslaw E-mail: [email protected] Mobile Number: 0208352885

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