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The Return Of Mahama

Feature Article The Return Of Mahama
MAR 1, 2019 LISTEN

TBrutus: “There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune, omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” - Julius Caesar – Shakespeare

YOU MUST HAVE ENJOYED reading Rider H. Haggard's novel “The Return of She” in which Ayesha tells Leo she would marry him if he would return with her to her ancient home in Africa. Here, they would both bathe in the Flame of Life, become immortal and rule the world together. “The Return of She” is a sequel to “She”, that is “She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed” with its esoteric imagery, weird scenery and phantasmagoric events. The story is about a return.

You may have read about the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon staged a successful coup d'etat in 1799; five years later, he crowned himself Emperor. In 1814, Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne, and was exiled to Elba. After nine months and twenty-one days at Elba, Napoleon returned to France and engaged the monarchical army (the Royalists at Paris and Plenipotentiaries at Vienna). After the 100 Days War (Les Cent Jour) in which he was defeated, he was deported to Saint Helena- far away from France. A history of a return.

J. J. Rawlings staged the first coup d'etat in 1979 (June 4th) but after 31 months or so, he struck again on 31st December, 1981. The return of a coupist. Rehoboam told the people of Israel: “And now whereas, my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke, my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” Rawlings must have had 1Kings 12:11 in his quotable quotes and the events of PNDC days were more unrelenting than those of the AFRC days.

Once one has tasted political power, there is always the natural urge to continue living in that world of fantasy, and with a few supporters who hope to benefit eventually from such a benefactor's position, there will be 'duo-duom' (they will push you). Cross checking the political records of the United States, one notes Chester Arthur who served as America's 21st President (1881-1885) was the 20th US Vice-President who became President upon the death of President James Garfield in September 1881.

In 1948, Republican Thomas Dewey was tipped by pollsters and political pundits to beat incumbent Harry Truman. The legendary caption of Chicago Daily Tribune prior to the announcement of the results was: “Dewey defeats Truman” As the results showed, he was soundly beaten by Harry Truman.

In 1976, Republican President Gerald Ford was crushingly defeated by the democratic outsider, Jimmy Carter. President Ford got so devastated that he could not read his valedictory speech. His wife, Betty, had to read his 'So-hard-to-say-goodbye' speech.

With the (213,443 votes) 95.23% endorsement of John Dramani Mahama as the NDC Presidential candidate-elect, the man who is a historian has made history in NDC politics. The atmosphere at the elections was very serene – only policemen and electoral staff – no Hawks, no Invincible Forces, no Azorka Boys. His victory had been written on the wall, but pundits had not foreseen that it would be so overwhelming. They thought Joshua Alabi, Alban Bagbin and Spio-Garbrah had what it takes to defeat the most popular candidate.

Mahama will go down in history as one of the luckiest politicians in Ghana. Guinness Book of Records will certainly record him as the first in many instances: Assembly member (?), MP for Bole-Bamboi, Deputy Minister, Minister (Communications), Vice-President, President. Then… (if he should win the 2020 election) President of the Republic of Ghana! Again? Well, his supporters say he has to come back to complete his excellent unfinished business. He knew how to 'create and share' when he ran the show.

It should be a painful loss to Joshua Alabi with 3,404 (1.52%) votes; Alban Bagbin with 2,301 (1.03%) votes; Goosie Tanoh with 2,091 (0.93%) votes; Ekwow Spio Garbrah with 1,447 (0.65%) votes; Sylvester Mensah with 934 (0.42%) votes; Alhaji Nurudeen Iddrisu with 520 (0.23%) votes. For close watchers, it was déjà vu – we had seen it all before. So, some people thought it would be ideal to have a new face, a new style; new ways of administration; new persons surrounding the presidential candidate. But, politics (in Africa, in Ghana) is as tricky as a wily serpent. Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) used to say: “Fear delegates”.

In his acceptance speech, Mahama assured the 6 other contestants that unlike the taunts by his supporters: “Wobete boboli-bobo”, he was going to work with all of them: “I wish to assure all the six aspirants and the executives that I will work tirelessly with all of you, so that our common objective of turning our party back into power will be achieved.” Mahama warned party supporters against people who would infiltrate their ranks and sow seeds of discord: “Let us be one, trust one another and let us all not believe the kinds of stories that will be circulated, creating an impression that one is trying to undermine another; once we build this trust, I am sure that we will be successful. Our party has spoken with one voice and I must say we are all the winners.”

Mahama had a word of commendation for the police: “Today has been a test and I believe that most will agree that the Ghana Police Service performed creditably. It is our hope that we can collaborate with the service into the future to ensure that future elections are as successful as our presidential primary.”

Historians will record Mahama as having made history, but he has a big hurdle to surmount: Jimmy Cliff calls these “many rivers to cross”. Mahama's rivals will compare his records pari-passu with that of their leader, the current President. Ask any rival (particularly NPP members) what anyone remembers of Mahama's administration – dum-sor, unbridled corruption, inflated contracts, veiled insulting insinuations: “…even if I lay the streets in Ashanti with gold, you will say I have not done anything”, “…we have eaten all the meat, what is left are the bones.” Do you remember “The Journey of the Magi” by T. S. Eliot? “We returned to our palaces, these kingdoms, But no longer at ease here in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods. I should be glad of another death”.

NPP has, expectedly, reacted to Mahama's win: “It will make NPP win easier”, says Omari Wadie, a Vice-Chairman of the NPP. Obiri Boahen thinks: “We are going to win massively, pure and simple… we are not being boastful, neither are we being complacent…”

We are yet to see whether the insider account of Dr. Arthur Kennedy's “Chasing the Elephant into the Bush: The Politics of Complacency” will be at play in the camp of the NPP. Or, whether NPP will bask in the rays of the SHS policy alone and not care about the welfare of the members… or, whether… or, whether…complacency, greed, selfishness on the part of the NPP will lead to voter-apathy…

Africanus Owusu – Ansah

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