Between Blood & Vengeance

My good friend Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyeremateng, who is vying to become the Flag Bearer of the greatest political organization on the continent of Africa, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is on the campaign trail. Finally, all of us who hoped and prayed that Alan would not run for that particular position this time round have had our hopes dashed. Alan indeed still believes that he ought to be given a shot at the Flag Bearership slot because it is his belief that with him at the top most position, the NPP would win power come 2012.

Though I had wished and prayed that Alan would not run, he seems to think otherwise, and so, as a good party man and a democrat who believes that all and sundry ought to be allowed their day in the sunshine, I wish Mr. Kyeremateng the best of luck. I am not one to dissuade people fromtheir political ambitions, legitimate and otherwise, so I wish him luck!

He would need it, not only for the upcoming campaign, but for the days after. Win or lose (there will be no draw) Alan will need a lot of luck to keep his political fortunes and ambitions afloat.

Apart from luck, I hope that my friend Alan is also keeping a close eye on his campaign and studying all the ramifications of the campaign, because in this business, fact and perception both count for equal measure.

Mr. Kyeremateng has found a friend in the pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) press. For some strange reason, the press that is owned and sponsored by the ruling NDC, who are the sworn foes of the opposition NPP, have taken upon themselves the onerous duty of promoting Mr. Kyeremateng to become the Flag Bearer of the NPP. It is scenario that, in my opinion, Mr. Kyeremateng must watch, because it cannot bode well for him. It cannot be good for Mr. Kyeremateng that the people who have sworn to undo the NPP have decided that the best man to lead the NPP is Mr. Kyeremateng. If Alan intends to win the flag Bearership slot, then he may have to do something about the type of press that is so dead set to assist him. Their help, I can tell Alan, is poison!

This, of course, is free consultancy for Alan and my other good friends in his campaign team!

Talking of free consultancy, another person who seems to be dead set in exercising very poor judgment is President John Evans Atta Mills, who has decided that he is now going to obey the dictates of his political master by driving members of the NPP to court in droves for various offences, realm and imagined.

In recent times, some people have been doing the best that they can to create the impression that the slew of former officials of the NPP being drummed before court is as a result of the determination of the current administration to fight corruption. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like the NPP, I believe firmly that what is happening is because President Atta Mills is dead set on wreaking vengeance on his political opponents in fulfillment of the wishes of his lord and master, Jerry John Rawlings. But this is my free advice; it is a tactic that is bound to fail! It would surely not work!

First and foremost, I do not envisage simple prosecutions in these matters. I envisage that we are about to witness years of long, drawn out bitter criminal litigation that would go to the Supreme Court and back. And by the time it is over, the people Mills and his people were seeking to convict would be heroes instead of villains. Politically, Atta Mills and his ill-advised crew are just digging their graves!

Before I go, the carnage in Bawku is a great testimony that the National Security set-up in our country is totally at sea! They do not know what they are doing, because if they did, by now, they would have traced all the guns and firearms that are at play at Bawku. That National Security has allowed so many guns to remain in the hands of civilians to the extent that they can shoot at Ministers of State speaks volumes as to the competence of these security people.