NPP Party Leadership has Lacked in Strategic Thinking

As the NPP nears its Delegates Conference to elect the next party leadership and perhaps amend some sections of its constitution, it is past time that the fact of the party's lack of strategic thinking of late at the helm is brought up. This deficiency is even more abominable when added to the perception of elitism plaguing the party, mostly promoted by the NDC but also the result of politically insensitive moves like the construction of the Jubilee House through an election year and without clear communication to the public on the benefits from such a project to them. Also, the party seems to have been cursed with leadership more comfortable perhaps at Oxford than at Commonwealth Hall – that is, not down-to-earth or politically astute enough to connect with the average folks. Please note that by party leadership, I am referring to elected party officials and public office holders such President and MPs as well as the flag-bearers and campaign teams.

If you look at the main opponents of the NPP and its ancestral UGCC, UP and PP parties, the CPP and NDC, you will clearly see that they are much more strategic in their thinking and actions. For instance, when the NDC realised that their biggest problem was that people were afraid of them because of their human rights abusing history, they presented their flag-bearer as “Asomdwie hene” or the King of Peace. They also realised that the NPP's macro-economic achievements were stellar. So, they strategised to convince the people that those macro measures like low inflation do not matter but only micro conditions such as money in one's pocket do, as if the macro conditions do not directly impact the micro ones. The NDC also devised a stratagem to taint the vote in the Volta region in 2008 even while out power by blocking NPP vote monitors from certain areas. They also tagged Nana Akufo-Addo with being a cocaine addict and the NPP of being behind the killing of the Dagomba King Yaa Naa Andani without providing any evidence. Even better, they agitated that the NPP was going to rig the election of 2008 and that there will be mayhem in the country if that happened. This accusation at least had the psychological effect of implying that the NDC was sure to win the elections. The CPP was even more strategic in their glory days. They set up Young Pioneers, tricked some village folks that their votes will happen on election day while the other parties will vote the day after the elections, etceteras! The PNDC also used to send the cadres of their revolution to Cuba for training and political indoctrination. Some of these folks have since become very successful professional liars and strategists for the NDC.

What was the NPP meanwhile doing strategically? NOT MUCH. The party headquarters is still not up to par – physically or technologically. Going into the 2008 election, the party clearly should have dealt with the biggest weakness of their candidate – that he has been tagged as arrogant/radical. I have met Nana and know people who know him and he is not arrogant. However, in politics, perception is everything. So, baseless accusations cannot just be ignored. Nana's campaign and the NPP should have fiercely fought back the NDC's professional and strategic lies. Nana should have been made to travel lighter and not with as many people. He should have been made to travel often say with his wife, speak more local languages (and he is multilingual in two or three local dialects), etceteras. His campaign should have also been more personal – themed around his many years of political activism for the average folks and victims of Dictator Rawlings, who was subserviently enabled by Agya Mills. Of course, strategically, it was also critical that Nana separated himself a bit from President Kufuor while associating Candidate Mills more with Mr. Rawlings' legacy of human rights abuses and failed economics. The public will almost always be fatigued by every President/government after 8 years. So, it was a strategic blunder that the 2008 NPP campaign did not clearly communicate how different and improved the next NPP government was going to be by avoiding the shortcomings of the incumbent NPP government.

The NPP is consistently out-witted when it comes to street-smart politics. For instance, how can the party justify a situation whereby as a party in power it had to seek redress in the law courts over alleged irregularities by the OPPOSITION party – the NDC?! The communication apparatus is also below standard. For instance, the NPP had its candidate tagged arrogant even when the founder of the NDC is the most arrogant leader Ghana has ever known. Even worse, the party did not invest adequately in its youth and next generation of leaders. If the communist-type parties like the CPP and NDC send their youth to Russia and Cuba and then back to Ghana, why can't the NPP send its generation of leaders to say America and back to Ghana to work in strategic positions?

So, as the party looks to reform and chalk success in the times ahead, it needs to pay attention to and find strategic thinkers. Party chairpersons and other key office holders like the General Secretary and National Organiser should not be judged on whom they are aligned with but on their vision and strategic mind and proposals. How do they intend to deepen the party's internal democracy? How do they intend to improve technology and give the party a leg up in its field and other operations? How about fundraising? How are they going to expand the fundraising base and streamline fund collections. How are they going to improve accountability so that funds actually get to where they will help the NPP to win elections? How do we assemble and re-stock our future generation of leaders? How can we tap into our relatively stronger support among Ghanaians abroad and finally get them to be able to vote? How do we revamp our communications teams so that we can protect our brand/leaders and even outwit the NDC with our street-smarts more than once in a while?

In this vein, I am excited by the proposed expansion of the delegates who elect our leaders perhaps by hundreds of thousands of party members. It is an ambitiously strategic proposal that should be supported by a majority in the party. It can make the process of electing party leaders and candidates more democratic and less susceptible to manipulation. Internal party campaigning can become more of a mock general election campaign. The party can also use this new process to boost its fundraising. Thankfully Nana Akufo-Addo and other key leaders have voiced support for the proposal. Also, there is a proposal to elect one or two deputies for key positions in the party's leadership. I hope this proposal becomes a reality and fodder for grooming youthful leaders to run the party well now and in the future. The NPP needs to become more strategic in its long and short term thinking to be more successful.

Prince Ofosu Sefah,
Toronto , Canada.
[email protected].