The revelation that the former General Secretary of the NPP vandalized his government property and attributed that wreck to thieves is a startling disclosure and has brought to the fore the question of just “How Patriotic is the New Patriotic Party? The New Patriotic Party is the only party that wears the word Patriot in its name but their actions are anything but patriotic.

Patriotism is a driving force in nation building; it is a devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty. It is the power that drives citizens to lay down their lives in the defense of their beloved country. A person who loves his/her country will do anything to protect the assets and people of that country.

The Secretary General of the New Patriotic Party and many others in that party have consistently demonstrated grave acts of unpatriotic acts in recent times. Kuffuor, Sakyi-Addo, AMOATENG and now Ohene Ntow have raised questions of integrity, loyalty and patriotism by their actions.

In his rage following the defeat of the NPP at the just ended election the General Secretary of the NPP Mr. Ohene Ntow, a de facto custodian of government property, decided to wreck havoc on his government residence, pictures of that residence were first published in the NPP Statesman newspaper and attributed to robbery. Months later, we would know that the esteemed New Patriotic Party General Secretary personally undertook and supervised the destruction of this government property.

SHAME ON YOU Mr. General Secretary!There is a thin line between sanity and insanity and Mr. Ohene Ntow’s actions as unreasonable as they are are insane. He should apologize to the nation.Mr. Ohene Ntow like many others in the NPP belong to a school of thought that thinks Government property belongs to no one. That is a wrong assertion that characterized the last administration. The poor Taxpayers fund these projects in an impoverished country like ours. The house that Ohene Ntow occupied was built with the toil and sweat of hardworking Ghanaian workers and the cost of repairs estimated at $1million will be borne by hard working taxpayers.

This repair money could have been redirected to:Preventing hunger in the society, Building and repairing Schools for our kids, Building Healthcare Posts for the needy, Building roads and highways to prevent accidents.

Mr. Ohene Ntow; as you lay in your hospital bed in your dying days I want you to remember two things. The hospital bed you would die on was paid for by the toil and sweat of the very taxpayers you have just insulted as thieves. The lady doctor examining you in your dying bed was the same girl attending Dormaa Ahenkro Primary School when you senselessly wrecked that property.

Your actions were certainly not aimed at the NDC party; they were inadvertently aimed at depriving you, your immediate and extended family members, and other innocent Ghanaians the opportunity to realize their God given dreams.

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana!

Sodom and Gomorrah is a very filthy settlement and a menace in the city of Accra. The issue of that settlement has suddenly become a nagging headache for the Accra Metropolitan Authority and the Ghana Government. No one knows when this city, aptly named after the Biblical anecdote of Sin City, began to spring up but one thing is certain; Sodom and Gomorrah did not exist when the capital of the then Gold Coast was moved from Cape Coast to Accra. I do not recall any settlement in that area in my early years because I played football on the grounds north of that area with the Abossey Okai Youth football team.

Sodom and Gomorrah is a settlement of about 50,000 low income inhabitants. The settlement is located north of the Accra Railway Head office and is situated along the old Timber Market Road. The settlement spills over to the Alogbloshie market on the east and shares a 600 meter perimeter area with the banks of the Korle Lagoon. Perhaps the settlement started when traders began putting up kiosks along the Timber Market Road to sell merchandise such as oranges, eggs, charley wote and other necessities. Shortly thereafter some traders transformed those kiosks into homes and in no time a population of low income Ghanaians had established a sprawling slum that has become a real headache for successive AMA administration. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah come from every part of Ghana. There are Kaya girls from the north and shoeshine boys from the south; petty traders from the east and unemployed youths from the West. Sodom is a reflection of the failure and neglect of government.

Sodom and Gomorrah is filthy. There are no permanent structures in that city and no planning permit is required to put up temporary structures; the temporary structures are made of anything from wood to paper. Water and sewerage systems are non-existent and whiles most inhabitants virtually step in fecal matters and sewers on their way to their bedrooms others literally sleep in it. Many walk several miles to get potable water whiles many more do without it. Mosquitoes abound in that area because the anopheles mosquito thrives in filthy waters. The stench from the many streams of gutters within the settlement constantly competes with the smell of foods the inhabitants cook and eat. Frequent flooding occurs in the rainy season leaving patches of stagnant water wedges around the camp.

Healthcare is also non-existent; pregnant mothers, children and the aged are constantly left to fend for themselves without medical help. Infant mortality rate in the camp is extremely high and the other vulnerable groups of people often die out of neglect. 50,000 people living in a clustered area of 3000 square feet could spread communicable disease more quickly. Some people believe that the city was suitably named Sodom and Gomorrah because sexual promiscuity, prostitution and unprotected sex are a norm rather than the exception. Healthcare workers have never visited the camp to ascertain the number of people living and dying of HIV/AIDS. The picture in the camp is a true reflection of poverty.

Successive administrations have been indifferent to the situation at Sodom and Gomorrah. This article is not intended to apportion blame to any administration but to add a voice to the plight of the residents and find a solution to the situation.

Sodom and Gomorrah is a catastrophe waiting to happen. An outbreak of any communicable disease in that camp will not only turn deadly and spread throughout Accra and the rest of the country but will be extremely expensive.

Just recently, the AMA issued yet another threat to residents at Sodom and Gomorrah to leave the area or face eviction. These empty threats are illegal, unproductive and uncalled for. Residents promptly staged a demonstration in reaction to these threats. The law does not allow Landlords to force people out of their residents without due process. Residents at Sodom and Gomorrah have nowhere to go. Ghanaian kids living in this squalor have known no other home than this slum.

Sodom and Gomorrah must be demolished! But we must be civil about it. The AMA must start the process by going to court to seek removal of residents from the property. In the meantime NADMO, NGOs and the Ministry of Housing, Ministry of labor and Employment and Ministry of Finance must work together to find alternative placements for displaced persons. In the mid 1990s the Government of Ghana established a refugee camp in the central region to accommodate West African refugees fleeing conflicts in the region. The Bujumbura Camp has become a model of how to treat displaced people. Bujumbura is a camp equipped with basic amenities such as structures, water, health posts and basic schools. If the Government can provide for refugees from without it can do the same for refugees from within.

In 1982, the Government, in reaction to an inhospitable deportation of over 200,000 Ghanaians from Nigeria was able to assimilate every one of the deportees, refugees and returnees into Ghanaian society. YES WE CAN do the same for Sodom and Gomorrah residents.

Bujumbura is gradually emptying up as refugees return to their newly found freedom in their countries; and Bujumbura or similar camps could become a temporary holding post for most of the residents at Sodom and Gomorrah until they are integrated into mainstream society. Integration is key to a solution to this problem!

SARPONG, would you for once and for all, tell the whole wide World what you personally and directly suffered at the hands of JJ so that all would understand your endless tirade of unmatchable hatred for this guy? I think in that case, fewer folks might find you a terribly embittered, egregiously hateful and atrociously "shylockally" vengeful person.If you are so full of such self-consumed, uncontrollable urge to pay JJ back for whatever he did to you, why don't you act upon your words that you have been spewing here on this forum for ages to demonize this guy?

You could take him to court, if you want to prove your case formally and in a more civilized manner or you could go find him and personally confront him in any form of duel that would satiate your incurable hunger for his head.You had all the time in the World during the NPP Administration to which you have signed your soul, to cause your friends in Parliament or the Government to overturn the articles that insulate JJ and others from prosecution on issues relating to or emanating from our chaotic Military past.If you do not do so now, this fuming irrepressible hatred of yours for JJ can kill you before your God's appointed day for your passing whilst JJ still lives to enjoy the fame and favor of his supporters.I strongly believe you would be better served to let go and renew your focus on life but for a different target. You aim at destroying JJ seems so far to be just an aim that would never go fulfilled. And you would be wasting your entire life living in an unachievable dream.I also believe you have more useful potential that can be employed to help Ghana fare better than hoping to get JJ's head. Meanwhile, you forget to put all JJ did into the perspective of the political environment of the day.

Ghana chose not to pursue Officials for any punitive actions when we transitioned back into a democratic dispensation. Unlike Chile where Augustinho Pinochet was pursued in the Courts both home and abroad to answer for his monstrous crimes, we chose the "Mandelaian" path of employing a Truth Commission to levelling with the people and moving on in peace. Our Constitution, which was constructed with the active participation of the then Opposition among whom featured your life-bonded Political amigos, provided that we offer all these Military Political Misfits, if you choose, indemnity from Prosecution on past deeds.

So, if you cannot have those elements in our Constitution repealed or ammended to suit your goals of permanently silencing JJ, the only wise option is to redirect your energies into something more positive. Like, say, organizing some fundraising to rebuild the other villages near Krobo and Mampong, Ashanti. That would be a most laudable legacy to you. And people like me, would more than willingly, contribute for such an upliftment in the lives of those left behind in that area. "Amaniampong Nananom da so bre! Nsuwa ne Nsubonten pii a ewo Nsuta ne Kwabre ewee..." Yes, our streams and rivers are drying up from misuse and wanton deforestation. The old Tete-Quarshie Cocoa farms that helped our fathers and mothers to build some wealth to help enhance and accelerate the growth of Oseikrom, (Kumasi), need are dying off and need to be replaced with newer hybrids that take less than half the time to reach fruition. Our Sanitanitional infrastructure has not changed much since Independence, even as the population soared over the years.Our dwindling familial assets due in most part to lack of avenues to invest our hard-earned wealth is a threat to the continued enjoyment of good health and relaxation deserving of our elders that built much of such wealth.

Shouldn't we pay more attention to strategies that would solve such problems first than to seek some ever elusive Political vengeance?Enough is enough! Let's do our positive bidding by the Nation and less advantageous rural folks, who are the ones that get more victimized with such destructive Political grudges.Take a deep breath. Give it a long sigh of acknowledgment of a new game to advance. And settle down to move our area back to progress.Listen, Sarpong. The Royalties from our Timber and Gold deposits, for example, still do flow in. Our Cities need to reflect the current level of Civilization with better Infrastructure. We need to fight for better levels of the Royalties, by the way. More, we need to vigorously work to secure more profitable markets for our products so that our folks still tilling the land can maximize their gains from their toils and allow the Youth to confidently take the mantle of advancing our kind and give the Elderly a break to relax more in their last days.Most of our Elderly who used to be very wealthy in the 60's,70's 80's and even 90's, now are living on the brink of survivability. They wake daily wondering how much they would have left to live on the next day.

The Youth today are mostly caught up in this ongoing Political conundrum and are not encouraged to stay back to give enough help to the Elders. Yes, I know you might say, you and your family are doing just fine. If that is the case, God be thanked for that. But the rest of the families are not in such a great shape. I could probably say the same, too, that my family is doing so bad, with siblings well situated all around as Doctors and the like. But yours and mine may be only a handful of secured families.I still see the houses built in the 50's with their roofs never maintained and leaking. I see these ever-browning roofs daily as we travel along the roads to Ejura, Oboasi, and Bekwai. Those new houses built by the "Burgers" like you and me and a few lucky individuals should not deceive us into thinking all is well. A far-sighted shot of Bekwai at a distance tells it all. We have to change stategy.There is no doubt that Ashanti deserves better than what it has gotten back from all the sacrifice. But we should plan to reap a longterm, lasting benefit from all that. Especially, with ensuring our offsprings have the best schools possible and children do not die of measles and polio in Ghana anymore.We should not be content with the selfish acquisition of wealth by a few individual Politicians and pseudo-industrialists who might have cheated to amass their wealth and are not giving enough back to the Society.

A lot have been said for Appiah-Menka, for example. Well, the least said about his efforts, for example, the better!I have said enough here now. So, let me just suffice by inviting you to join me and many others to channel most of our energies into more positive ways in building Ghana and our homes.Let's put nails in the coffin for the hatred and Tribal feuds!!Long Live Ghana!

(This article was a direct and thoughtful response to a libelous article that appeared on ghanaweb. The article was completely written by CYBERCOP and all credits should be directed to CYBERCOP)

Every news organization has only its credibility and reputation to rely on. The journalism profession like any other has a set of moral principles that ensures that it is not misinforming the public. Generally, most news organizations share a common set of ethical values; — truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability — as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public.

The WebPages of ghanaweb carry news content from leading news organizations on its website for Ghanaians to read. The website also allows contributions from its over 2000 registered contributors and countless bloggers and the editors occasionally share editorial opinions. The ghanaweb website provides useful information about Ghana including the constitution, sporting events, personal and classified advertisements. For a measly $20 per annum anyone can post an article on the website and traffic is pretty high. The website serves as a great source of news content for Ghanaians living in and outside that country.

Unfortunately, the website has evolved into a forum for tribal intolerance. The type of bigotry and narrow-mindedness displayed on the site is comparable to the mood in Rwanda leading to the days of the great genocide. Unfortunately, the website has evolved into another “Radio Rwanda” – the forum that was used extensively in the genocide of nearly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda. This repulsive situation has compelled many Ghanaian readers who do not want to associate themselves with a typical ghetto news content website to look elsewhere for Ghana news.

Content websites like ghanaweb typically earn money through one of many ways:

•Commissions / Affiliate links - An online retailer pays the publisher a percentage on sales made after customers click through from the website to the retailer's site.

•Advertising networks - Most news websites earn the bulk of their money through advertising. All you need do is drop a few lines of code into your Web pages where you want the ads to appear and then Ad networks will handle the sale and display of ads on your site. The two main types of revenue earning schemes are BlogAds and PPC (Pay Per Click)

•Paid content – Readers pay for the content i.e. Financial Times and major newspapers

Ghanaweb is probably using the Affiliate links and Ad network options and those options require large traffic input. More readers and page views generate more money. To make $36,500 a year for instance, ghanaweb needs to earn $100 a day on its site. Let us assume ghanaweb is attractive to advertisers and earns $10 in ad revenue for every 1000 page views. That would mean the website needs to serve 10,000 page views a day to meet this target. To attract the level of traffic needed to sustain this revenue ghanaweb must serve its readers:

•Several articles a day on subjects that will be out of date within 24 hours, few people bother reading old articles

•Provocative articles that would generate passion and get people onto the site, and .

•Reader-contributed contents. Well-managed, thoughtfully organized discussion boards add dozens of new content pages a day to the site with much less effort.

The bulk of ghanaweb revenue is from the many advert flashes that appear on the website and to get more people to that site the editors have been ever too happy to manage content in a way that has inadvertently inflamed passion on sensitive issues. To maximize the revenue from PPC ad networks, content websites sometimes organize their content to limit individual URLs to a specific topic. The ghanaweb’s response to this is to introduce provocative topics that would generate traffic. Unfortunately, most of these topics have been directed at one ethnic group or another, attracting comments as crude and cruel as the ones heard in sound bites from the movies HOTEL RWANDA and SCHINDLER’S LIST. Other favorite topics for the editors of ghanaweb are: Kuffuor, Mills, Rawlings, NPP and NDC, and Asantehene, the Northerners, Ashantis, Ewes etc.Without questioning ghanaweb’s intention of making money in order to pay the costs associated with maintaining a website, the ethical issue of inflaming tribal sentiments among the various ethnic groups by constantly producing raw unedited and uncensored articles on that forum needs to be examined.

There is a deliberate attempt to post tribally insensitive articles from certain notorious contributors on the main pages ostensibly to garner large traffic onto the website. These provocative articles generally generate equally intolerant counter statements and invectives. The result is a cacophony of abuses and insults flying from one end of the spectrum to the other. The idea that ghanaweb is operating fair and balanced journalism by posting these articles is false. Lifting a provocative article from the “opinion” page onto the main “news” page is the work of the editor; therefore, these provocative articles are deliberately being posted for no other reason than to inflame passion, to direct traffic to the sites for advertising purposes and for profit. Unintended as it may seem, this practice has gone on for so long it has become a dangerous game of cyber tribalism that is slowly mutating into a full scale tribal rift. Most ghanaweb readers hardly ever notice the adverts that appear around the peripherals of the WebPages because these readers do not represent the target advertisement demography.Ghanaians living in Ghana do not care about their credit scores, Pingos, Vodka, alli, jenny craig, La Quinta Hotels, Aflac, Geico, AXA equitable, Sprint, Verizon, Hertz, monster, Bank of America etc.? The management of web content is the responsibility of the news organization. The ethics of the journalistic profession clearly states that news organizations are accountable to the public.

The fascination of posting tribally insensitive topics on the main pages of ghanaweb starts in the editorial office and could, someday have perilous consequences. I must state that ghanaweb has the right to do whatever they like on their website, but, that judgment must be rational. It is high time ghanaweb started managing their contents responsibly. They owe that duty to Ghanaians; lest we forget we still live on a continent that witnessed the Rwanda genocides and the Kenyan atrocities.

Babatunde Olotunji can be reached at obabatunde@excite.com

The oil discovery frenzy that has gripped Ghana in the last year continues to make headline news as more oil wells are discovered. As the excitement of more oil discoveries raises the expectation of better lives for all Ghanaians there are those of us who are apprehensive. My apprehension stems from the fact that neighboring countries with oil have failed to use the wealth generated from the oil industry to improve the lives of their people. Even as scientific evidence have shown that these discoveries are not hoaxes and an estimated timeline of when the country will start reaping the benefits are known to politicians, nothing has surfaced about how the revenues from taxes, royalties and other payments would be put to use for the benefit of Ghanaians. There is no master-plan in place to prevent the mistakes made by neighboring countries like Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

Nigeria: A country that discovered oil in 1960, have failed to transform 50 years of continuous oil flow into significant development. That country benefited from OPEC pricing moratorium. In the 1970s a group of Oil Producing Countries unilaterally decided that the price of a barrel of oil was not going to be determined by market forces of demand and supply, but by the oil suppliers. These countries then allocated production quotas to members to ensure that the market was not saturated with the product and within moments the price of a barrel of oil rose from $2 to $40. OPEC members including Nigeria soon began to reap the benefits of this singular decision and saw national revenues rise to unprecedented levels. Nigeria has Abuja (their new capital) and the creation of oil related jobs to boast of, however, the lack of a comprehensive development plan led to environmental problems, corruption, neglect of their agro-industry and an inherent power problem. Despite the oil wealth, poverty is also very entrenched in that country because the oil wealth did not filter through to the common man. Cameroon, Chad & Angola: These countries have very little to show for in terms of how the wealth generated by oil have transformed their societies. Chad was embroiled in a political turmoil and opposed World Bank recommendations on how to redistribute the oil wealth.

There is an old Akan saying that “if you see the monkey jump over a stream, you do not swim in that water”. (I made that up)

We have seen how our neighboring countries have squandered their oil wealth and opportunities thereof and we cannot jump into the same stream. We need to have a long term development plan for the nation and channel the bulk of the oil money into building a better Ghana. A long term projection of where we want to take this nation in the next, 20 – 30 years is an ideal developmental plan. This plan can be labeled “Vision – 2030”. The 2030 plan must have short term development programs that would take us to the 2030 goal. We need to set benchmarks, monitor progress and make changes as the world changes around us.

The establishment of at least three bi-partisan parliamentary committees to design, implement and monitor this plan is a first step. The committees must invite inputs from the general public because that is what democracy is all about. I prefer a bi-partisan committee because that would ensure transparency and continuity. Parties will come and go but our commitment to Ghanaians must not waver. Members of the committees must have proven record of integrity, honesty and commitment to work for the good of the nation. For over twenty years, Tsatsu Tsikata was tasked with the job of discovering oil in Ghana, he had the money, resources and free access to the President, but, he failed to discover a drop of oil. In four short years the NPP government found oil on an even smaller exploration budget. For this reason, I do not think the management of our newly discovered wealth should be left in the hands of one man or one party. It should be a national effort that transcends any ethnic or party line. The beauty of democracy is that the opposition must have a say but the government must have a way. The opposition can always come back and say “We told you so”. Also, when you have opposing ideas the end result is an enriched plan with little mistakes. The plan should address issues such as education, agriculture, transportation, industries, employment and many others and should be futuristic.

Education – Set up targets to provide good quality basic education for all Ghanaians. Our educational system should strive to develop Ghanaians in all fields of human endeavor. The footballer should be able to understand the terms of his contract, and the professor should be able to provide research that would benefit the world.

Agriculture – The biggest lesson learnt from the Nigerian experience is the neglect of their agro-business after the discovery of oil. Nigeria was a force to reckon with in Oil palm, groundnut and cocoa production. They also produced enough food for local consumption. Today, that country imports most of her foods. The discovery of oil should not lead to the collapse of our agricultural industry. We should use oil resources to help farmers modernize their business; provide storage and subsidies to support that industry. The cocoa industry should be strengthened further. Oil wells do dry up and when that happens we can still fall back on an enhanced agro-industry to keep us afloat. The United Arab Emirates was once a leading oil producing nation. That country has projected that the oil wells will dry up in the next 10 years. As a result, they have identified tourism as an alternative source of revenue and are building hotels in the middle of the ocean and changing the skylines to look like Las-Vegas in the Arabian desert.

Transportation - If one of the goals of our transportation system is to establish first class road networks that would link major cities together and prevent deadly motor accidents, then, the time to start planning is now. We need to project what the population would be like in thirty years, how many cars would be plying our roads and how many lanes we need to ease traffic. There is no Ghanaian alive today who has not lost a close relative or friend to the many accidents that occur on our roads daily.

Industries – The government should encourage the establishment of local industries to support the oil industry. The big oil companies should be encouraged to patronize products and services from these small companies. In a capitalist world, small companies are the backbone of the economy. As we have seen in the past, bigger companies are riddled with laziness, bureaucracies and inefficiencies.

Environment and Employment – We should ensure that the oil companies are cleaning up their mess and not destroying our eco-system and that Ghanaians are employed in key positions.

In conclusion, it is disheartening that so far no-one has come up with any ideas on how to manage our newly found oil wealth. The previous government did not establish this plan when they first announced the discovery of oil and the current government has not said anything either. It seems to me that we have resigned to our fate and hoping that things will fall in place; that is a destructive strategy that would lead us to the same path as our neighbors.

If all of you can send letters to your MPs right now, they will listen and act. The alternative is to watch our country miss a golden opportunity. The western world has already written us off and concluded that we would end up like the others, but, it should not be so. Ghanaians are smarter than that; we have the opportunity to once again show the rest of Africa and the world that we do things differently. Send that letter to your MP and tell them to start making concrete plans about the oil. The Oil wells will dry up someday, but, we should be able to look back and say “we did something”. If we do not act today, some crazy politician will come around and enrich himself much to the chagrin of everybody.

I want this debate to continue and would welcome any contributions. I will also welcome any disagreement, comments or invectives. I can be reached obabatunde@excite.com

Political parties are formed on the platform of ideologies; a set of believes that bring groups of people together. In the United Kingdom, the two main political parties are Labour and Conservatives. The Labour Party was formed to represents the interests and needs of the urban working class. On the other hand, the Conservative party is the party that represents the interest of business people; generally focusing on free-market approach to government services and privatization. In the United States, we have the same situation; Democrats do well in the working class neighborhoods whiles Republicans perform better in affluent and socially conservative constituencies. Democrats draw support from the Labour unions, women and blacks. The Republican Party on the other hand draws its support from white males, Christians and the business communities. Aside the political divide are social issues such as abortion, gay rights, education, social welfare and many others that unite people behind their respective parties.

In the UK the influence of Margaret Thatcher on the Conservative Party cannot be overemphasized. The Iron lady re-branded the Conservative Party and introduced reforms that changed the British social structure and encouraged free market. Under her leadership, Labour Unions became a powerless voting bloc resulting in successive political victories for the Conservative Party. Tony Blair did the same thing under the Labour Party. The Labour Party faced with the ultimate demise of socialism and having lost multiple elections to the Conservatives needed a new platform to stand on. It was re-branded and sold to the British people. New Labour adopted less social programs and encouraged businesses on High Street. Ronald Reagan did a similar thing in the US. Using the Republican Part as a platform he introduced reforms that transformed American into the World’s only super power, a myth she still enjoys till this day. Bill Clinton came along and added a humane face to that macho image.

Politics is all about marketing, and like marketing you target your customers and sell the candidates and the party to them. That means you have to re-brand the same product and sell that product to the different markets. The 50 + one vote winner take-all presidential contest in Ghana means a Presidential candidate must strive to make in-roads in all constituencies. It means a Presidential candidate must appeal to his base as well as moderates in other constituencies. That candidate cannot afford to alienate himself from any constituency.

Akuffo-Addo does not come across as a Presidential material; I do not see him ever becoming President of Ghana. As Attorney General he was architect of a “Fast track’ court that selectively jailed members of the NDC much to the chagrin of many whiles NPP members who committed similar offences were patted on their backs and allowed to keep their ill-gotten wealth. This means there are unfriendly constituencies that may not welcome him. The perception that he is a drug pusher has done him for good. His inability to scale the 50% mark in both Presidential elections means he will find it extremely hard to win an election in Ghana. The attempt to wrap Rawlings around Atta-Mills and make him look like Rawlings deja-vu clearly did not work in both instances.

The NPP has the right candidate to stage a come-up. The temptation is to go with the last candidate in 2012 and that means Akuffo -Addo is the front-runner right now, but, but 49% by every standard is a failure. In our schools if you get 49.99% you have failed. Akuffo-Addo is a failed candidate, and you may prove me wrong. He will be 68 years old in 4 years and 72 years in 8.

The only thing close to a Center right party in Ghana today is the NPP. It is a party that is easily comparable to the Republican and Conservative parties in the US and UK respectively. The party believes in free market, conservatism and the right to own property. It believes hard work should be rewarded and labour should be constrained so that businesses can operate in a laisser faire environment. The NPP party stabilized the Ghanaian Cedi and kept inflation under control. Faced with a growing unemployment epidemic across the continent it made several efforts to employ unemployed and unemployable Ghanaians, retraining and finding best fit placements. It established a court system that would put politicians in check. It promoted the sports and ensured Ghana would take its place in the pinnacle of world football, a feat that 25 years of (P)NDC rule could not achieve. Its greatest legacy would be finding Oil on the shores of Ghana with the least effort and resources. I must remind Ghanaians that the (P)NDC spent millions of $ and found nothing. Tsatsu Tsikata was the man tasked with finding Oil in Ghana and had a blank check to do so, he found nothing. Damn it.

The NPP needs to re-brand. It should redefine itself; move its ideology farther to the center and appeal to moderates in a hitherto no-go constituencies. To do this the party must find the right leadership, must find a leader who appeals to the base and can win some votes in moderate regions. The greatest thing that has happened to this country is the emergence of two major political parties. The NPP enjoys a support base in the Ashanti region and the NDC has its base in the Volta Region. This reminds me of the support bases of both the Democratic and the Republican parties. Blacks in America have traditionally supported the Democratic Party by a margin of 9:1 over the Republican Party. Conservative White Christians do likewise for the Republican Party. This anomaly creates a equilibrium where the moderates eventually elect the Presidents of the US. No one has ever questioned this arrangement but both parties continue to strive to win these no-go votes. As a testimony to this fact the Republican Party recently elected its first Black Republican party Chairman in Michael Steele.

Re-branding a party calls for dramatic changes, and in my next article I will discuss personalities in the NPP who can make a difference in that party.

Please send comments and insults to obabatunde@excite.com