Why I Follow Alan: Part 1, 'The Call - Few are Chosen!'

Today, 19th September, 2024, marks exactly a year since I was officially called by the Honorable Alan Kyerematen personally, to serve as one of the young technocrats and a frontline operative for his campaign to lead and transform Ghana. I have since served various units, some concurrently. This includes providing technical inputs to the campaign’s operations’ team for strategy and execution, logistics mobilization and deployment, serving as Frontline Communications Team member, and to my current role as Teams’ Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator. Let me attempt to give an account of that day’s events and considerations which culminated into a full assurance, causing me to respond to his call to this level of service and responsibility same day, last year.

I was still in the NPP and had put together a team of excellent young professionals and patriots under the name; “Alan Rangers,” to advance the campaign of Alan Kyerematen in his bid to lead the party as flagbearer. The team was involved in various unconventional efforts in a guerrilla campaign strategy outside of Chief Alan’s main campaign team. As my manner has been, I had published my latest article at the time, in my series to herald the Profile and Transformational Message of Alan, while exposing the schemes of the inept Akufo-Addo establishment to shortchange the man, on 10th September, 2023; “When Interests Collide: Alan from the Chasm! Abilolo’s Musings.”

(https://xafokantanka.wordpress.com/2023/09/10/when-interests-collide-alan-from-the-chasm-abilolos-musings/)

This article unbeknown to me, caught the eye of Chief Alan who expressed his delight on that faithful day he called to officially invite me to help the new direction of a youthful movement.

Here, the NPP had finished the special delegates’ election on Saturday, 26th August, 2023 and Alan had withdrawn his candidature from the upcoming phase of the contest, pending what he called, a public announcement of his decision for the next chapter of his political career. Essentially, his main reason for the withdrawal was, whereas the Government had disappointed Ghanaians with bad governance, the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia establishment and key architects of this disappointment, would not allow a free and fair delegates’ elections and a full adherence to the party’s founding principles. They were using foul means to deny the Party and Ghanaians, a more competent leader and that, he Alan, was not comfortable with.

In honor of the principle of consistency, many had anticipated Alan was going to leave the party because the very same level of misconducts before, during and after a delegates’ election in 2007, nearly caused his exit from the Party. These misconducts; deviation and degeneration so pervasive in the current NPP, were reasons Alan had written at the time, to party leadership to ensure sanity prevailed or he would leave. Thanks to the intervention of some respectable elders who entreated him with full assurance of some mature and progressive resolution, he stayed and served diligently until it became absolutely clear in the 2023 race, that the NPP party under President Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia, had finally become a lawless one beyond redemption!

While they anticipated his exit, pressure begun to mount on some of us known advocates of Alan in the party, not to follow him. I had been invited by a number of top government appointees some of whom I hold in good affection, to stay with the NPP no matter who emerged as winner. There are those who had done me favors and had all the promising posture to make sure I had no need of material things once I would stay with the NPP. In fact, I had just returned home from holding a similar passionate conversation on an invitation to the residence of a very kind and distinguished CEO friend on that faithful day, the 19th September. While I went through those intense spikes of emotions to make a choice, I found myself in the washroom to take a long shower.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it was after this unusually long shower, that I came to meet 19 missed calls from the Honorable Alan Kyerematen and yet another which I answered to the nostalgic sound of his voice; “Yah! Hello Michael! How are you doing!?” Stunned! All I could mutter was “Eeeeiiiii Sir!!!” To which he giggled, sending streams of relief down my nerves. Here was Abilolo completely star-stricken! My icon I had taken strong notice of, for his affiliation with Kumasi Academy, my school, had called! He was straight to the point after pleasantries and references to our last meeting, and went ahead to place the request with these opening words; “Errmm Michael, I have decided to restructure the campaign in line with my focus on young people...” I accepted the call, a meeting date was set and the rest is history. Indeed, even while I am unable to express this moment with the choicest of words, the significance of that call to an almost perplexed young man at a decision point would remain a memorial while I sojourn.

I will tell you why this was so significant and worthy of mention. Deep within my considerations to follow or not to follow whatever decision he would make, was the strong point his critics resounded that Alan would never make time for his people enough to call them. In fact, on a heated debate with some persons against Alan, their main issue with him was that he had never called even when they worked for him. Reconciling the turbulent moments to decide on which path to tow on one hand, with for the first time, his 19 calls to me with Hon Gifty Klenam within a space of some 15 minutes, really dispelled all those lingering doubts. The man Alan Kyerematen really, has time for people of value and working with him closely, I have come to learn he builds value in all manner of people he embraces.

With hindsight, I know I can confidently label that day, “the unpleasant decision moment.” Accounting the turbulent moments of considering whether to do the ordinary, the self-serving and most convenient thing to stay with the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the political party I had known and loved and so defended all my life at that point where it had become so apparent that the current custodians have no regard for rule of law; or to follow as a Youth Advocate and Development Practitioner so passionate about Ghana’s Development, the man for the Transformation of Ghana. A hope I could draw confidence in with his selection in 1994 by the Times Magazine as the man for this Millennium; amongst 100 global giants like Bill Gates(Microsoft), Jeffery Sachs (Top American Economist trained at Harvard), J.F. Kennedy Jr (Famous son of assassinated US President J.F.K.) etc.; Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, whose highly exceptional global and local Professional achievements, life and very Politics I had followed and admired and so earnestly do, even to date.

In fact, for a young man with deep connections into the Akufo-Addo Presidency even with other key government officials, many who appreciate the level of self-denial in my decision to “lose it all” as our toxic adversarial partisan politics would have it, to follow Chief Alan while he left the NPP, have probably called me a fool. Indeed, some close family members in their typical repugnance for new beginnings; especially when they were yet to come to full terms with the vision at hand to save Ghana from the toxic and counterproductive deeds of the NPP-NDC duopoly, have insulted me to the face. To them, I was choosing to trade connections that would bring me and them, some temporary amusement and gains, to follow Alan’s Movement for Change. The thought of these rebukes as anticipated, made the decision a very tough one for a young man who so needed those connections and the opportunities that would come with them.

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