Alan Supporters Are Muddying The Waters
One truth is that the rivalry between the supporters of Nana Akufo Addo and Alan Kyeremanteng is real and very dangerous.
Another truth is that Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng still harbours the intention to lead the party, come 2012. And yet another gospel truth is that “moneycracy” has reared its ugly head again.
The sad aspect of these scenarios is that the Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party is too powerless to act to bring sanity in the party.
Today, I am going to say it as it is and leave the rest for posterity. Let everybody keep quiet and acquiesce, but as for me, I shall have my say to get the nonsense off my angelic chest.
No Jupiter can cow me into quietude on this issue. In fact, I do not care a hoot whose ox is gored when it comes to the issue of this Alan matter. People can say whatever they like about me but I am not prepared to seek accommodation with those who compromise so cheaply on matters of unity of purpose.
This is about the fourth time that I am writing on this issue and I want to serve notice that this is not the time for niceties, or misguided politeness.
As it stands now, the supporters of Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng have put parochial interest and money above the quest of political power.
They have all too soon forgotten what Mr. J.H Mensah, the former Senior Minister, said in 1992 when he first arrived in the country to join his colleagues to wrestle power from the hands of Rawlings. Hear him: “We want political power”.
That simple statement gingered up all the supporters of the party who sacrificed in one way or the other to bring the party this far.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah also made a similar statement when he said, “Seek ye first the political kingdom and all the rest shall be added to it”. The CPP sought for political power and had it.
What are the supporters of Alan doing to make the dream of bringing the NPP back to power a reality? Nobody is saying the gentleman is not a good material, but the way his supporters are going about insulting and sending damning text messages is not the best.
They have refused to reason that by doing that, they are buying bullets for their common enemy, the National Democratic Congress.
The reason why the CPP is finding it difficult to come back to power is that the party was built around a single personality, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Similarly, the NDC will collapse if Rawlings dies (May God forbid, anyway) because he is the sole founder of his party and the party is built around him.
The NPP has no single founding member and so stands the chance of surviving and standing the test of time, even when former president Kufuor dies (May Allah forbid).
That is why supporters of Alan should look far ahead and stop this madness. If even Bill Gates is fielded as a candidate for election 2012 by the NPP, I believe it will need the collective efforts of the teaming supporters of the NPP to bring him to power.
Not his money. Division and in-fighting will not do anyone any good. The watchword should be UNITY. But how can the party be united when factions are created in almost all the constituencies.
What is compounding the problem is the way the former President, Mr. Kufuor, is being viewed by the supporters of Nana Akufo Addo. Even though for the umpteenth time the man has denied ever supporting Alan Kyeremanteng during the last flagbearership race, people still do not believe him.
Probably the saying that there is no smoke without fire is manifesting itself here. And so anytime he decides to advice against divisiveness in the party, supporters of Nana are skeptical.
The last time, at the party's delegates' conference which was held at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra, the man came out clear to announce to delegates that he does not belong to any faction in the party, but STILL people did not belief in him.
Mr. Kufour may be economical with the truth, but since he has said that he does not belong to any camp in the party, why can't we simply believe and keep watching him closely?
From the way things are happening in the party, only God can save it from staying in opposition for a long time to come.
In the face of all this confusion, the NDC is digging in seriously in the north. See how they have appointed Northerners in key cabinet positions?
The roll call is unending. In today's Ghana, people from the northern regions are holding these key cabinet portfolios:
Minister of Health (Benjiman Kumbour), Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (Yile Chire), Minister of Interior (Cletus Avoka), Minister of Works and Housing (Albert Abongo), Minister of Communication (Haruna Iddrisu), Minister of Youth and Sports (Rashid Pelpuo), Minister of Foreign Affairs (Alhaji Mohamed Mumuni).
So out of the nineteen cabinet ministers, the three northern regions can boast of seven, thereby leaving the rest of the seven regions to share twelve cabinet positions.
What do you think these appointments mean when it comes to elections? And do you know why Mr. Suleiman Ibn-Mahmud Abdulrahaman has been appointed as the National Coordinator for the Ghana School Feeding Programme? Your guess is as good as mine.
Instead of sitting down to find a strategy that can counteract this menace and dilute the poison being prepared by the NDC, the supporters of Alan are disturbing the minds of well meaning supporters of the party.
Seriously, I wonder why it is always a struggle between Alan and Nana. Since Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng reared his head in the scheme of things in the party, things have not been the same again.
It was he who introduced “moneycracy”, which led to the dismal performance of the party in the last elections. He has started again and I can bet with my last Kufour Dollar that if care is not taken, the party will lose again.
Because of the way monies were literally sprinkled around in the run-up to the last national delegates' congress of the party, old constituency executives who are seeking re-elections are finding things very difficult.
The polling station executives who were sidelined in the sharing of the booty are so peeved that they will not like to see their faces.
Mr. Kufuor contested with Adu Boahen in the 1992 primaries and lost, but the heavens did not fall. Similarly, when Nana Akufo Addo lost to Mr. Kufuor at Sunyani in 1998, nothing happened. But when Alan lost to Nana in 2008, hell broke loose and he, at a point in time, resigned from the party.
The NDC made a capital out of his resignation. That simple act contributed immensely to the bad performance of the party during the general elections.
Have you ever heard of Alhaji Aliu Mahama speaking? Since the man left office he has decided to live quietly with his family whiles he attends to every invitation without any fanfare.
If there is anyone in the party who should have been peeved and angry, it is no other person but the Alhaji. In the normal circumstances, the Alhaji should have been supported by his boss, Mr. Kufuor like Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Rawlings did to their Veeps.
When it was alleged that the ex-President was supporting Alan, the Alhaji did not say anything to mar the relationship between him and his boss.
He went to the polls at the primaries like a sacrificial lamb, lost and joined the campaign of Nana. This is the mark of a gentleman.
Thankfully, he has shown extreme maturity even after losing the primaries, a loss that can be attributed to his inability to compete with Alan in the sharing of monies to delegates.
The man seems to be thankful to God for bringing him this far. People like Alhaji Aliu are the ones the party needs at this time of threatening division and chaos.
If you are living in Accra, you may not know the harm being done to the party as far as this Alan and Nana rivalry is concerned. Yours sincerely was at Chireponi during the by-election and what I saw was worrying.
Even when it came to the time of serving food to the polling agents, Alan's supporters served theirs separately. During the collation of the results, those in Alan's camp also collated theirs separately. Master, the thing is very serious!!!.
I want to rest my case for now because I am beginning to experience some unusual heartthrobs. But as sure as there will be another increment in petroleum prices by Egya Atta's government, I will be back, God willing.
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