The implications of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings' historic contest

Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings

Last weekend, in Sunyani, a former First Lady, Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings made double history.

She became the first Ghanaian to challenge a sitting President for his party's nomination as well as the first woman to contest for the Presidential nomination of a major party. Those are big achievements and she must be commended for her courage. So many men have contemplated what she did in the past but lacked the courage to do it.

Someday, when a woman finally makes it to the Presidency of Ghana, that woman's journey would be dated from the day Nana Konadu decided to contest a sitting President.

When she started, some said she would not dare to pick up nomination forms and she did. When she picked up the forms they said she would not dare to file her nomination papers but she did. When she filed they said she would drop out before the day of the contest but she did not drop out. And in the end, while claiming victory, President Mills himself conceded that the former first lady had brought to the fore, issues that the NDC, left to its own devices, might have glossed over.

That was a statement of fact. The grievances of the foot-soldiers that inspired the former first lady's entry into the contest will not die with her candidacy and if the NDC ignores those grievances and sentiments, they would regret it.

Historically, it has been quite a journey for the Rawlingses. The man who asked 'Hand over to whom has now helped to establish the principle that even a sitting President can be asked to hand over the leadership of his party and that is a good thing. In my opinion, while there was a constituency for challenging the President, the fatal flaw in that whole enterprise was picking Mrs. Rawlings as the standard-bearer of that constituency.

The dynasty argument was very hard for Mrs. Konadu to overcome, regardless of her merits as a candidate. As an NDC GAMER once asked a supporter of Mrs. Rawlings pointedly, 'What could Rawlings not do in 19 years that he wants Nana Konadu to do now?'

While commending Mrs. Rawlings, we should also congratulate her party, the NDC, for organizing   a successful congress and a Presidential contest. The Congress was peaceful and appeared well-organized.

Unfortunately, the contest was rather rancorous. Therefore while together with Nana Konadu, the NDC has extended the frontiers of our democracy, the NDC was dragged to these achievements reluctantly— kicking and screaming.

To hear the GAMERS talk about her, you would think she had committed an offense. Former friends deserted her in droves. They said nasty things about her. People who had climbed to success on the backs of the Rawlingses suddenly could find nothing good to say about her or them.

If the Rawlingses had had Shakespearean tendencies, at some point in that campaign, we should have heard, or at least someone in the NDC should have heard that profound question 'Et tu Brutus?' If that question had been asked in an NDC meeting by one of the Rawlingses, many heads would have turned.

It is said that 'You can tell the pioneers by the arrows in their backs' and I am sure that the Rawlingses have felt quite a few arrows in their backs of late.

the Rawlingses
To be fair to those who turned their backs on their former benefactors and friends, though, it is possible that they betrayed the Rawlingses for higher principles. As one NDC friend described it to me, 'We are abandoning the Rawlingses not because we love them less but because we love the NDC and being in power more.' While not questioning the motive of my friend, was sycophancy, in addition to the love of power, at work here?

 It may be that the same sycophancy that had helped the Rawlingses stay in control for so long was still at work but this time, it was working for President Mills. However, even given the very understandable impulses for supporting President Mills, some in the NDC went a little overboard in their name-calling of the Rawlingses.

I am sure that now that the contest is over and re-uniting the NDC is now paramount, many will regret, not their support for President Mills but their choice of words in describing their former friends and mentors. It has been said in some quarters that sometimes, women are their worse enemies. While many turned on the Rawlingses, the passion with which a few of their former female friends did so was a wonder to behold. Really, did Mrs. Betty Mould-Idrisu and Sherry Ayittey need to say all the things that they said about the Rawlingses while declaring their support for President Mills? Not really.

While on congratulations, the President deserves the congratulations of all Ghanaians for winning and winning big. He showed that the NDC is now, truly the party of Atta Mills and no longer the party of Rawlings. The President, to be honest, must be a troubled man.

He has had a public falling out with perhaps the most significant man in his political career. He had been plucked from political obscurity to the Vice-Presidency by Mr. Rawlings to the surprise of many.

He had been made the NDC candidate to the chagrin and disappointment of many in the NDC with the 'Swedru declaration' by President Rawlings. Then finally, after many trials, he had won the Presidency. It is sad that upon the realization of their shared goal—their relationship should deteriorate so publicly.

I do not know the reasons for the break-down in their relationship beyond those stated in public so my view is limited. However, it is my hope that in the end, the two can find a way of reconciling and restoring their mutual good feelings. Next, the NDC made quiet a few mistakes in managing the contest. It was unwise to let all those regional executives declare support for the President, just like it was inappropriate for Mr. Adams, as Deputy General Secretary, to be openly a member of the former first lady's campaign.

Those declarations of support smacked too much of orchestrations in one party states and the kinds of declarations by chiefs witnessed during the UNIGOV era. Furthermore, it was prejudicial for the NDC Parliamentary caucus to state publicly that they had wanted to go to Sunyani to endorse President Mills rather than to have a contest, just a few days before the Congress. By doing that, they were in effect, telling delegates to vote for the President. It was astonishing and disappointing that nobody was cautioned for any of these activities that clearly breached fairplay.

One would expect that, as a good Ghanaian citizen, given the President's admonition to Ghanaians to 'Dzi wofie asem', I would keep my mouth, or in this case my pen or fingers out of the business of the NDC. After all, to be honest, I am having a little trouble being heard in my own political home. The reason Nana Konadu's contest interests me and should interest all of us is that it has national implications.

First, I am sure that during the contest, many Ghanaians, particularly in the opposition NPP, took careful notes of the former first lady's message. Indeed, before and during the NDC Presidential contest, it appeared that the Rawlingses, particularly, his Excellency, the former President, was a more eloquent critic of President Mills than the NPP.

Thus while the NDC establishment found it possible to persuade most of the about  three thousand delegates, it is possible that the generality of Ghanaians may have taken the Rawlingses alarm bells about the state of wakefulness of the 'Yutong bus driver', President Mills and his government more to heart than the NDC did.

It therefore stands to reason that the Presidents re-election team will spend quite a bit of time in 2012, explaining some of the very credible accusations made by the Rawlingses. Amongst these will be issues of corruption and non-performance. Indeed, in his eagerness to defend his boss, even the Vice-President; the teller of the famous 'Taka Tika Gangale' parable may have added to the potency of the charge that the President was asleep at the wheel of the 'Yutong bus' when he opined that all that the sleepy driver needed was coffee! I have wondered why, despite all the other buses available, the NDC chose a Yutong bus for their analogies. Could they not have chosen a Toyota or Nissan or Mercedes or something a little more elegant?

accusations and
counter-accusations
Second, as a result of the accusations and counter-accusations, together with the insults that were exchanged, the NDC is divided. Healing the gaping wounds and putting the party together as a coherent force is going to be a monumental task. If the President accomplishes that, he will be strengthened considerably and if he fails in that task, his chances for re-election will be decreased considerably. Only time will tell whether that task can be accomplished. If he fails, he would discover that letting the GAMERS drink so much FONKER BEER may have been unwise.

Despite the afore-mentioned implications discussed, the President's biggest problem, as far as being contested, is from history. The reason incumbent Presidents and parties go to great lengths to avoid primary challenges is that it portends trouble.

In the United States, which has perhaps, the longest experience with Presidential Primaries, being challenged in the primaries is uniformly a prelude to defeat. In 1968, Lyndon Johnson, the Democratic President, knowing that a primary challenge from perhaps Robert Kennedy was coming, chose wisely, not to contest for re-election.

His party's candidate, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey lost the general elections to the Republican candidate Richard Nixon. Then in 1976, President Gerald Ford, trying to win a term in his own right after succeeding President Nixon who resigned, was challenged by the ex-Governor of California, Ronald Reagan for the nomination in the Republican Party.

Even though Mr. Ford, just like President Mills survived that challenge, he went on to lose the general election to the Democrat, Jimmy Carter. Four years later, seeking re-election to a second term, President Carter, just like President Mills, was challenged by late Senator Edward Kennedy and went on to lose the general election to Republican candidate, Governor Reagan, who went on to serve two terms.

Finally, in 1992, the Elder President Bush, seeking re-election with approval ratings of over 90%, was challenged in the primary by conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and went on to lose the General election to Democrat Bill Clinton who served two terms. It is instructive that while all the Presidents who were challenged won their primaries, they all went on to lose the General elections. Now, that is America and this is Ghana but the human condition and politics have enduring similarities that we ignore at our peril.

On the other side, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, seeking to be elected for the first time in his own right, was challenged by former Vice-President Atiku in the primaries but went on to win the general elections convincingly earlier this year. Thus those who are already celebrating an NDC defeat and an NPP victory should stop celebrating and get to work. There is still a lot of governing and a lot of politicking to do before we head to the polls in 2012. President Mills has been significantly weakened by the Konadu challenge but it is too early to count him out.

Finally, let the President get on with driving the 'Yutong bus'. Whether he is driving the bus well or not, he will be driving till 2012. Whatever he needs, whether it is coffee or something stronger, let the games end so that he can get to work. Ghana needs a lot of work from the President.

Let us have a peaceful, transparent and credible election in 2012, devoid of GAME and FONKER-like insults, devoid of closed circuit cameras to observe people as they vote.

Let us move forward, together.