Are Nana ‘Boys’ Preparing Grounds For A Second ...

Continuous And Unexpected ‘One Touch Victory’ For Him?

The pass few weeks have seen our gallant men marching to the NPP headquarters to tender in their nomination forms with regards to our flagbearership contest whiles others launch their campaign with style. Whiles Nana Akuffo Addo, in his usual self, kicked start his campaign with a press conference,, Alan John Kyeremateng, started his with a visit to the market.

In fact what is clear here is the fact that Alan ‘Kash’ as he is popularly known is the only person among the two front liners who varied his campaign strategy, at least, at the launching stage, and people are underestimating his strategy.

I have heard analyst that I so much respected like Kwaku Baako and Ursula Owusu goof on my favourite radio station Peace fm, on this issue because of what I believe to be pure emotions but emotions don’t win elections. Listening to this station of late as an NPP foot soldier and an electorate in the impending elections has really become boring and sometimes annoying as you get nobody to represent the other aspirants except Nana. Instead of calling a spade a spade, these revered analysts are repeating the mistakes that have caused NPP and Nana dearly, as a result of it we are in opposition now, complacency! How can they repeat the mistakes of the past by looking into a non-existing crystal ball and declaring that about 80% of the NPP electorates have made up their minds and it is in favor of Nana!

If this claim is true, then Pres. Ata Mills will be in opposition now whiles Nana would have been the president because similar claims were trumpeted, any lessons?

It is with this same attitude that candidate Mills with a listening support base won the 2008 elections and the most popular Nana nearly won it! What exactly are these so call Nana supporters doing to the man they claim to love? Are they not sure they are damaging the reputation of Nana before the 70% of electorates who have not made up their minds, according to my statistics in my constituency?

Now you hear people commending Nana for flamboyant and extraordinary press conferences, which only the elites understand but the ordinary electorate and NPP member in Suame constituency hardly follows. Don’t they see that Alan got it right because most of these electorates are in the market? And even those of us who are not there have parents and family members who influence our decisions one way or the other. In any case, ones the power has been given to the grass root, then a visit to the market is better than press conference as such act is seen by most people as elitist act which is far remote from the ordinary voter.

There is the need to take every contest one at a time and was this press conference directed towards the government or Nana’s competitors in the coming elections. Sometimes you wonder why great men don’t get it. Similar things happened to Prof. Adu Boahen when he thought that ones he had contested a national election in 1992, Mr Kufour was no march for him. By the time he realized, Mr Kufuor was the flag bearer for NPP in the 1996 elections. Even how many constituency executives will follow and understand the purpose of this press conference and how more the NPP voters at the grassroots across the country? Though it serves NPP’s ultimate purpose, there is definitely no time for that now. Nana would have more than two years for that if he is elected, which I even believe the strategy to win the 2012 elections should be personal door-to-door campaign backed by proper polling station support.

Indeed, desperate situations calls for desperate measures and it is in this vain that Osafo Maafo is making so much ‘noise’ on the airwaves today. I do not have any problem with the camp he has aligned himself but my worry is the claims that he is making as a matured and respected politician. To suggest that Nana’s win alone guarantees party unity is simply unacceptable from a seasoned politician. History may favor Nana but it does not guarantee Nana the victory and more especially the victory we are looking for in 2012.I am particularly worried when mistakes of the past are repeated so boldly and arrogantly. Which poll in 2008 even gave the then candidate Mills the ‘dog chance’ of winning the elections. It is high time our politicians understood that controlling the media is not a panacea for success in election and neither is big talk a guarantee for electoral success. Now all the polls are favoring Nana again and are we in for another surprise? I am worried when people close to my mentor make him feel that all is well when in actual fact nothing is well at all. This smart way of doing things just to silence the perceive opponent does not win elections. In most cases, the candidates who have been suppressed pull the bigger surprises. The history of NPP flagbearership race attests to this and the presidential election has always favored the underdog. I really can’t understand the reason why even when Nana’s camp cough, we hear it on our radio and a whole campaign tour of Alan in Ashanti and other regions has not been given attention by the Kumasi radio stations especially. The region that is claimed to support Alan does not even give him opportunity to use the airwaves! Who is actually masterminding all these? In fact we could be so smart to dilute the river at its source and then come back to the other side, the mouth of the river, if it is so called, to ask who diluted the river but we should know that God has seen us. Are we trying to use Ashanti region to win election and sideline them in the name of an un-existing division? Could such allegations be just smear campaigns to undermine certain group of people in the party? What are we doing to ourselves as a party? Don’t you think it is just an attempt by certain group of people to get favours that they don’t deserve? Or better still a tool of the opposition to break our united front?

But wait a minute! Is this also an attempt to discredit Alan? In my view as a party member, Alan has really carried himself very well in the party and any attempt to discredit him will never help the schemer or even the general disposition of our dear party. Factions are in any party and as far as I know, Alan controls a big chunk of party faithful and foot soldiers. Personally, I am not in any camp and I have decided to vigorously campaign for any body the party elects on 7th August. Whiles I like Alan, I have a lot of respect for Nana. I believe Alan definitely will be useful for the party, even if it happens after Nana. But to me and a lot of party foot soldiers, Alan’s singular gesture of not allowing a re-run in our primaries in 2007 will forever be remembered by NPP fraternity, especially the grass root. How many of those criticizing Alan can do what he did or similar things at the expense of their political career. Cast your mind back to 1998 and can you recall how people treated the then candidate Kufour and cast a slur on him even when he had contested a national election in 1996? Whether Alan resigned or not, which to me he did, is not an issue because nobody will sacrifice his political career this way and comes back to say I am resigning. To him he did that in the interest of his supporters who were been maltreated, as he imputed during his tour to Suame constituency last month, and this is clearly the mark of a man who does not want power at all cost. And this is one of the clear reasons that a lot of people still love him. There is a saying in Asante that ‘wo ka ntam k?se? gu amena mu a epue’ to wit, whatever one says privately will definitely be known publicly. All that his supporters suffered are much known by all Ghanaians and the irony is that some people who claim to support Nana but are either or not known by him are repeating such mistakes today. Something was really wrong then and if those things are been repeated today, then the perpetrators should know that the foot soldiers will never forgive them if they condemn us to 8 years in opposition and by so doing, bring the aspirations of Nana to an undesirable end. Because whatever we say today, whether against Nana, Alan, Prof or Isaac can have a telling effect on the hopes of the party in 2012 no matter who becomes the candidate. Even one touch had then been sold and was no more but Nana’s advisors allowed him to use it as a slogan in 2008. WHETHER NANA OR ALAN, NPP SUPERCEDES EVERY BODY. WE THE FOOTSOLDIERS ARE READY TO SELL ANY ONE WHO WINS THE 7TH AUGUST CONTEST TO GHANAIANS AND PROVE TO GHANAIANS THAT NPP HAS THE BEST DEAL FOR THEM, WHETHER IS NANA, ALAN, PROF. K. FRIMPONG OR THE NEW ENTRANT,ISAAC OSEI! AGAIN!SHORT, HANDSOME, TALL AND OTHERS LIKE THEM ARE COSMETIC, KNOWLEDGE SUPREME! WE CAN’T FAIL OURSELVES AND GHANAIANS!

Daniel Donkor KUMASI