Power play in the NPP, Northerners takes over

The battle over which power bloc calls the shots in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) appears to have taken a new twist as another claimant, the Northern cabal, pops up, years after the Akyem and Ashanti factions have remained the sole determinants of what happens in the elephant party, that traces its root to the Dankwa-Busia-Dombo tradition.

The Northern cabal, led by respected die hard members of the NPP, has resolved to fight tooth and nail just to re-brand the party to gain a national appeal by having non-Akans, particularly Dombos (Northerners), run its affairs at the national level.

Sources within the newly emerged Northern caucus disclosed to The Al-Hajj that the leadership of the NPP has failed to come to terms with the glaring reality that the party is widely perceived as an Ashanti/Akyem party and until that jinx was broken, the party will continue to perform abysmally in other regions.

“If the party seriously wants to win political power again in this country, the first step we have to take is to do a critical self-reassessment and come out with strategies that will enable other tribes to also have their voices heard in terms of decision making in the party at the top level…anything short of this will continue to spell doom for the party forever,” the source disclosed.

According to the source, leading members of the party from the Northern extraction have resolved to contest for the various leadership positions in the party at the national level at the next delegate’s congress of the party.

“We want to take over the party from the usual Akyem and Ashanti people who have rocked the boat for some time now and the results we are getting is not desirable for a political party like NPP…don’t be surprise when you hear I’ve picked forms to contest for one of the national executive positions at our next delegate’s congress,” a well known Northerner in the NPP hinted.

The source who pleaded on condition of anonymity opined that, the NPP did not lose power to the NDC, but rather surrendered it to the NDC through divisive tendencies, resulting from persons from the Ashanti/Akyem stock seeking the presidential slot of the party at the last delegates' congress, the messy parliamentary primaries, and their ensuing factionalism in the party.

He noted that if the Ashanti/Akyem elements could sacrifice for the party by abdicating their decision making role to some competent non-Akans just to diffuse the wide spread perception that the party is controlled by only Akans, the NDC would have been no match to the NPP in terms of electoral results.

“Whether perceived or real, NDC has succeeded in labeling NPP as an Ashanti/Akyem party and it appears the other tribes, particularly we the non-Akans believe this diabolic propaganda. In fact, the issue has gained so much weight that I even found is startlingly to hear well educated people also arguing along that lines…but this perception to me is not farfetched as some of our own people have made comments to denigrate people from other ethnic groups in our party,” the source added.

The source argued that, in 2000 the NPP under ex-president Kufuor wrestled power from the NDC, simply because the country was sick and tired of former President Rawlings, adding that “even that Kufour could not win outright in the first round, that alone should tell us that we are dealing with an opponent that has strong base when it comes to national appeal… ours is not like that, insofar as you are not an Akyem or Ashanti, your contribution is regarded as less important”.

The elephant party, the source noted can simply not win elections in Ghana just by continually winning only in two Akan regions (Ashanti and Eastern), it needs more than that. “If NPP disregards this simple truth, it does it at its own peril as the survival or otherwise of the party will rest on this and other reforms made during the party. This is simple bitter pill that some may have to swallow for the advancement of the party and we the Northern caucus is battle ready to redeem the stunted tribal image of the party.

“Luckily for NPP, it can rely on the large population of Ashanti region and therefore increasing its fortunes marginally in other areas will boost the party's chances significantly… the Ashantis and the Akyems will always vote for NPP, irrespective of where its national executives will come from. So making some personal sacrifices will enable NPP to make some inroads into other areas as well. This is very important, as for instance, if NPP had won additional 2 percent from each of the tribes, it would have won the elections."

The passionate NPP kingpin argued that for the party to garner substantial amounts of votes from other regions apart from Ashanti and Eastern region, some of its national executives who are revered in those regions must come from those areas.

“I can tell you that NDC won in Brong Ahafo region partly because of the likes of Asiedu Nketiahs, Yaw Boateng Gyans, Cecilia Johnsons and Owusu Acheampongs and Lordina Mahama and I think this time round we will make sure we do same… enough of this Akyem/Ashanti business," he said.