When A Dam Is About To Break

The political empire of Mr. John Dramani Mahama is gradually crumbling down. When it eventually does, the name of Mahama will be written in bronze. Ghanaians will remember Mahama as a greedy, desperate, power-conscious and reckless person who once strutted this land of our birth. Beyond the many things that Ghanaians have done for Mr. Mahama, the man is still ungrateful and continues to beat war drums, knowing very well that in case of war, he and his family will have nothing to lose. After all, he has his foreign accounts stuffed with Uncle Sam's dollars and mansions with geometric dimension which is architectural wonder. And to add sugar to honey, he still draws his salary as a former president of Ghana and, of course, enjoys all the perks of a former president of God's own country. He has already received his end-of-service benefit and he wants to receive more if he has the opportunity to rule the country again. And he has people who were conceived by women for nine good months and delivered unto mankind who still follow this greedy man simply because they are hungry and want to fill their stomachs before the man suffers his second humiliating defeat.

It is heartwarming to see the wise among the NDC fraternity keeping their distance. These group of supporters have come to realise that the dam is about to break and as such, the wisest thing to do is to go far ashore to save their hard-earned reputation. Just look around Mahama and you will see loud-mouthed upstarts like Sammy Gyamfi and his cohorts who were born too late to understand where the NDC is coming from. We don't even hear of the other contestants who run with him during the NDC presidential primaries. How can a general win a war with his lieutenants sitting on the fence? The worse scenario is the indifference of founder of the NDC, Jerry Rawlings. Barely one month to the elections. Mr. Rawlings has not hit the road to campaign for his party. It tells volumes of untold stories. Another scenario which should worry Mahama is the indifference of Voltarian bigwigs of the party. You don't hear of Koku Anyidoho, Anita Desoso Dan Abodakpi, Kofi Adam and the others.

I am not surprised that the Voltarians are singing new songs now. When you cheat people all the time for too long, they wise up. Researchers in the NDC are not smart enough. In 1992 when the late Prof. Adu Boahen, who was the flagbearer of the NPP, went to campaign in the then Volta Region, he was chased away amid hooting and stoning throwing. The old man had no choice but to make a sudden retreat to Accra and promised to return to that region anymore.

Enter candidate John Kufuor, the gentle giant, during the 1996 general election. Mr. Kufuor as a flagbearer of the NPP risked his life and went to the Volta Region to campaign. He was able to convince the people there and like the Apostle Paul, he was able to win some souls for the NPP. In 2000, the NPP was able to win one parliamentary seat in the NDC's 'World Bank'. The number of votes in the region appreciated in 2004 and it has been appreciating since then. That is how people act when they see the light. The sages say when a dog loses one leg, it changes the way it walks and runs. The people of the Volta Region know what the NDC has done for them since 1992 that they have been voting en bloc for the party. Indeed, they also know what NPP has done from the day of President Kufuor to Nana Addo. It is only a foolish man who will say the NPP does nothing for the people in the Volta Region anytime it (NPP) is in power. Voltarians who still believe the region is still the 'World Bank' of the NDC should lace their boots and prepare to run to safety because when the dam is broken, non-believers will be washed away by great and torrential waves never seen before. Remember you are reading the epistle of your irrepressible Earth Angel Gabriel, the senior messenger of God. Just believe and help me say 'Amen'.

I can't wait to see the NDC's dam broken into pieces. I have never had issues with Voltarians who vote en bloc for the NDC. This is a party founded by their kinsman, Mr. Rawlings, who did put his nose on the grinding stone to bring the party this far. Typical Ghanaians act this way and I do understand. The Akans say that you don't undermine a person who wants something to Kotoko (nea ope biribi ako Kotoko no yendi no abro). Because the Voltarians have been voting massively for the NDC, whenever the party is in power, the government neglects the people there simply because whether they bring meaningful development to them or not, the people of the Volta Region will vote for the NDC. This time around, if the dam in the Volta Region is broken, it will serve notice to the NDC that you can't take Voltarians for a ride.

I remember very well when Mr. Rawlings once said he regretted for not bringing development to the people over there. That was a very honest statement but the man should not be blamed. He took the Voltarians for granted. For the past twenty eight years, the pendulum has been swinging in favour of the NDC but when it starts to swing the other way round, the NDC will come to realise that the people of the Volta Region are not fools.

From Eric Bawah