Don’t split NPP over factionalism, religion

Dear General,

Permit me to address you with candour on a pressing matter that borders on the past, present, and future of our great party.

First of all, let me seize this opportunity to, once again, extend my jubilant congratulations to you on your election as the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party.

General, I humbly implore you to put your feet down to ensure that neither factionalism nor religion gains any grounds, as a destructive force, in NPP. As we gear up for the election of a flagbearer, we count on you as our forward-thinking leader who represents the aspirations of the rank and file of our party.

I am of the view that if care is not taken, our “Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition” tag may create serious problems for us as we move forward. I believe the national party must swiftly devise a mechanism to ensure that we do not misinterpret or misapply any tag to our detriment.

Without a doubt, Dr. J B Danquah, Dr. K A Busia, and Mr. S D Dombo are three of our distinguished forbears whose sacrifices and resilience as leaders helped to shape the trajectory and policy of our party. As members and leaders of NPP today, we must not do anything to erode the gains chalked by our great political tradition, merely because we have an urge to interpret our “tradition” to favour our preferences in the flagbearership race.

There have been varying interpretations of the significance or implication of NPP being the “Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition” and activists and loyalists on different sides of NPP have put forth varying versions of their own.

General, to simplify a complex issue I ask a few questions:

1. Must a potential NPP flagbearer for 2024 descend from the line of at least one of these three great men of old?

2. Must an NPP flagbearership necessarily oscillate between or revolve around the descendants (immediate or distant) of Danquah, Busia or Dombo?

3. Is it healthy for NPP to continue to tag ourselves as “Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition” in the face of all the internal rancour that is causing?

4. When we say we are the “Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition”, what exactly do we mean?

My General, aside from the traditional tagline and its issues, our party also seems to be bedeviled with a dilemma of which combination or mode of Christian-Muslim-President-Vice President issues.

We must not forget that when we engage in name-calling during an internal contest, we only end up giving the opponent ammunition to attack whoever emerges on our ticket. General, I trust you to handle this one too masterfully to avert an implosion.

Thank you, Lawyer Justin Koduah for your service to NPP. May God continue to bless our great party and make us all great and strong!