RESOLVED: The NDC Is Bereft Of Ideas

For Ghanaians who wish there would be a viable opposition party, and looked to the NDC to provide alternate leadership as the leading opposition party, the signs are increasing pointing to the NDC as a party devoid of: real issues; real agenda; real leaders; a party torn asunder by irreverent remarks by its so-called leaders; a party wallowing in the wilderness. In short, the NDC is bereft of ideas that would make it a respectable opposition leader.
Rather than providing alternate platform to the NPP, the NDC is increasingly showing its irrelevance by resorting to verbal campaigns that can charitably be described as counter productive. It appears that the party leadership is either unable, unwilling, or simply incapable of reigning in what I have called the lunatic fringe in the NDC. The NDC is thus unable to wean itself from a pseudo-revolutionary collection of hangers-on and opportunists, into a real disciplined party.
I thought by now, the leadership would, in spite of itself, call some of its senior members to attention; and advise them from making not only irreverent remarks, but patently silly and counter-productive arguments.
It is said in Ghana’s urban legend that in every house there is a “Mensah”! Well, in the NDC, the “Mensah” appears to be one Nana Alex Asamoah, who goes by the title NDC Chairman for the Western Region. This guy’s stock-in-trade is simply fudging the debate, and reducing the NDC to a laughing whore.
The latest of Alex Asamoah's useless tirades defies erudition. It all boils down to this:
During president Kufour's last visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly meeting a couple of weeks ago, the US government's radio station Voice America (VOA), invited Kufour to appear on one of its shows.
Needless to say that the VOA is simply a propaganda machine of the US government. During the Reagan presidency, a correspondent for the VOA was publicly excoriated and later fired because she dared to question Reagan on his policy on Nicaragua!!! But of course this is beside the point. But it bears noting that VOA programs are not beamed to the American audience. One may be lucky to catch one with a powerful shortwave (SW) radio!!!
World leaders are inundated with request for interviews whenever they travel to America, or elsewhere. It is up to such leaders to accept the interview based on whether they have the time, or that they find the interview worth their time.
President Kufour apparently found the interview not worth his time. He had other more important matters on his schedule. The interview would have no relevance or significance for the Ghana body politic. If he was going to talk about ‘democracy and good governance’, Ghanaians are very much aware that they live in a democracy. Whatever he was going to talk about, Ghanaians have been there and done that!!
So what’s the big deal?
Well, for the disrobed NDC, groping around in the dark to find any hint of a scandal, or a tangible issue to cover its intellectual nakedness; the fact of Mr. Kufour’s failure to appear on VOA provided food for the stupid; hardly food for thought!!! Hence, Nana Alex Asamoah swings into action.
In what was billed as a ‘shocking revelation’, the NDC honcho ‘revealed’ that president Kufour failed to honour the VOA interview because the president was essentially tired from too much merriment; and not from other official engagements, as explained by the government.
Is the NDC going to win a parliamentary seat on the grounds that president Kufour failed to honour an interview with a foreign radio station? Absolutely not. Would Dr. Atta Mills, the NDC flag-bearer make this issue a campaign subject matter? Don’t bet on it. The issue is palpably worthless.
Nana Alex Asamoah continues to drag the NDC further down political oblivion when he decides to shoot from his hip like an ineffectual urban cowboy. While Nana Asamoah may be able to get a good laugh with such useless banter, he betrays the NDC (and himself) as a political party devoid of direction.
One wishes that the NDC leadership would find the wisdom to advise senior members of the party to refrain from reducing the NDC into a laughing stock by their utterances. One wishes that the NDC would indeed rise up to the occasion and become a well-disciplined political party. That could be a tall order, given its pedigree.

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