No Need to Worry Nana NDC is Deadwood

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

On March 22, 2008, Joy-Fm radio station quoted Mr. Mustapha Hamid, spokesman for Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaign, as claiming that the Presidential Candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) had privately expressed worry over some weird, albeit appreciable, decisions that had been taken by lame-duck president, Mr. John (Kofi Diawuo) Agyekum-Kufuor.

In the main, the decisions regard the recent questionable, and widely decried, reappointment of Dr. Richard Anane as Minister for Road Transport. The other decisions regard the remarkable hike in cellular-phone taxes and the two presidential jets authorized by the Ghanaian parliament.

Needless to say, quite a slew of questionable decisions have been taken by Fourth-Republican governments during the last sixteen years. Primarily, these governments have been run by the two major political parties in the country, namely, the so-called National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Such decisions have included the granting of humongous auto-loans to government ministers and parliamentarians. Also, the governmental assumption of the rather bizarre responsibility of locating housing for cabinet members and parliamentarians at the expense of the Ghanaian taxpayer.

Regarding the Anane reappointment, Nana Akufo-Addo ought to highlight the fact that although he was personally disappointed by the measure, as also were hundreds of thousands of potential Ghanaian voters across ideological lines – or persuasions – curiously enough, prominent members of the opposition National Democratic Congress, including the fast- and loud-taking Minority Leader, Mr. Alban S. K. Bagbin, unreservedly endorsed the decision. Nana Akufo-Addo could then go further to explain to the Ghanaian public that while, indeed, he shares the same ideological principles with President Kufuor (at least in theory), he, Nana Akufo-Addo, does not necessarily agree with every single measure issued or enacted by Mr. Kufuor.

And for good measure, the NPP presidential candidate could further highlight the fact that Mr. Kufuor had personally not endorsed his presidential candidacy as a significant example regarding some of their “minor” ideological differences.

The NPP flagbearer could then emphasize his steely resolve not to reprise President Kufuor’s Anane contretemps, even while also emulating some of Mr. Kufuor’s most remarkable achievements. Undeniably, it could also boost Nana Akufo-Addo’s credibility as a serviceable and collaborative team-player for the former Justice Minister to also draw the political balance sheet in favor of his predecessor, poignantly highlighting such forward-looking policy coups as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the salutary re-denomination of the Cedi, the progressive ratification of the agreement for the construction of the long-awaited Bui Dam Project, the HIPC windfall in the form of the Millennial Challenge Account (MCA), amidst, of course, a plethora of other equally progressive policies.

In the matter regarding the purchasing of the presidential jets, the latter’s multi-purpose utility ought to be highlighted, particularly with due regard to the NPP’s unprecedented foreign policy bonanza. Here, Mr. Kufuor and his cabinet’s sterling achievements in the area of continental African leadership may have to be emphasized, while at the same time spotlighting the fact that such equally critical domestic policy endeavors as the imperative need to resolving the perennial water crises in our urban communities, in particular, have not in any way been neglected.

The latter observation, of course, may need to be backed by sound statistical and budgetary evidence. Then also, the former Foreign Minister may need to vividly explain the exorbitant expenditure involved in the presidency chartering planes to ferry cardinal government appointees across the land, continental Africa and overseas. Here again, Nana Akufo-Addo’s fiscal disciplinary objectives may need highlighting.

In the main, the NPP flagbearer ought to highlight the fact that as a neo-pioneering, civilian democratic leader, Mr. Kufuor has had the bounden duty of laying down the infrastructural dimensions of the kind of unfettered democratic culture fostered and vigorously pursued by the ruling New Patriotic Party.

Indeed, while we wholeheartedly agree with KNUST political scientist, Mr. Kwesi Amakye, on the need for Nana Akufo-Addo to fine-tune his pronouncements on the preceding issues, nonetheless, we could not disagree more with the Kumasi University lecturer on “the need for the flagbearer to test the pulse of the electorate before commenting on” the foregoing issues.

On the contrary, we must counsel Nana Akufo-Addo to promptly take on these issues and quickly get them behind him before they fester into potential campaign bottlenecks. For needless to say, the CPP days of riding roughshod – or cavalierly stage-managing – national political discourse are well behind our time and generation.

*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., is Associate Professor of English and Journalism at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City. His latest and thirteenth book, a volume of poetry, is titled “Abe: Reflections on Love” (Atumpan Publications/lulu.com, 2008). E-mail: okoampaahoofe@aol.com.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.