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Opinions of Monday, 10 December 2012

Columnist: Sarpong, Justice

NPP, The Mathematical Equation To Win The 2016 Election

First let me congratulate my NDC nemesis in the forum for a hard fought election won. They did what they have to do to win the election and should be congratulated.

They have bought their way to stay in power and Ghana is the loser with all the corrupt people in the party given another four years to steal, we are in for another four years of a bumping ride ahead. Twelve years of NDC rule, according to the electorate is not enough for them, they want more and they have got their wish.

I am really disappointed in Ghanaians for the election of John Dramani Mahama but the decision has been made and all Ghanaians should accept the in coming Mahama administration and hope for the best that, he will select people with impeccable character to man the Ministries so that corruption can be brought to a minimum but I don't hold much hope with all the people he has surrounded himself with. Ghana is in for a long ride for the next four years. The Woyomes and the criminal elements in NDC will have four more years to steal to replenish what they spent in vote buying schemes. Some may say it is too early to talk about 2016 election when the EC is yet to declare the result of the 2012 election but we all know the outcome or what the result is whether it is a stolen verdict or not, Ghanaians have made the decision and NPP has a hard road ahead.

NPPians should not beat themselves to death but go back to the drawing board and strategize about how to win elections because at the moment, with all the best educated people in the party with good policies they unveiled during the campaign, Ghanaians did not accept them and the reason to find out why we lost is not far fetched. The simple reason is that, we cannot win any election in Ghana with just two regions, Ashanti and Eastern no matter how many of them turns out to vote. Secondly, we should unveil to all Ghanaians especially the Northerners that, their living condition is a paramount importance to the NPP Party and we will continue to support programmes earmarked to bring the three Northern rregions in terms of development projects to close the gap between the North and the south and this should not be just words to win votes but aserious party manifesto with every intention to carry it out.

NPP, the strategy of partnering a Northerner with an Asante or Akyem will not work in 2016.I am not going to mince words but come out and say it in plain language that, your political salvation lies in having a Ga as the flagbearer in 2016. This might not be a welcome news for those angling to lead the party in 2016 but we have to have a common purpose of electing an NPP government and put our individual ambitions of becoming a President in the shelf for the good of the Party. We cannot continue to run on the same stategy that has failed us twice. Nana Addo ran an issue based campaign with good programmes he wanted to implement if elected but Ghanaians have shown that, elections in Ghana is not won in Ghana by your achievements or your programmes or NPP would not have been voted out in 2008 or turned back in 2012. Election in Ghana is won through corruption and cobbling together the various tribes and that is what NPP has failed to do in 2008 and 2012. The tag of NPP being an Asante and Akyem party is really taking roots and it shoud be uprooted.

The tag of NPP being an Ashanti and Akyem party should be seriously addressed because whether it is true or not, the rest of Ghanaians believe it and no matter what kind of programmes and how good the candidate is, as long as he or she is an Asante or Akyem, we are going to have problems. This is not to say Asantes and Akyems should be banished from being the flagbearer of the Party in the near future but as far as 2016 is concerned, the flagbeareship should not be led by anybody from from Asante or Akyem. This might not be a welcome news for the power brokers in the party but if they want to win the 2016 election, they should start planning for it as soon as the next government rolls out its administration. Ghanaians or the greater of the populace do not vote on the issues. We have our emerging middle class group who are well educated and maybe vote on the issues but there is no data to prove that they do or don't. We still need to plan and come up with good programs to benefit Ghanaians like we did with the free SHS and others but the most important strategy to win the 2016 election is to find and groom a likable well educated Ga or somebody from Greater Accra region to lead the party in 2016 because the Akan /Northerner combination will be a failure again no matter how Mahama mess up the economy because he will still get the vote of the Northerners and the Volta region in 2016.

What we have to do is to avoid Greater Accra region becoming a safe region for NDC and the best way to do it is to find a Ga to be the flagbearer of the Party. Alan Kyeremateng is a very likable guy and has roots in the central region and maybe at 59 or 60 in 2016, he can become a running mate to a Ga and still have a chance of becoming a President in 2020 or 2024 but he should be persuaded to put his ambition aside for the Presidential postion and promised the Vice Presidential slot

NPP is not even referred to anymore as an Akan party but Asante Akyem party and Ghanaians are beginning to believe it. In the society we live in, such a notion should be nipped in the bud if NPP hope to win the next election and the best way to do that is to find a good Politician from Greater Accra to partner Alan Kyeremateng or somebody from Brong Ahafo region to avert that region becoming a solid NDC safe region too. The Asantes and Akyems in NPP should shelve their political ambition of becoming President in 2016 if they want to rule Ghana again because Mahama is going to be hard to beat in 2016 with all the political power and the financial backing he is going to have.

NPP should start raising money to fund future campaigns by identifying financiers who are willing to bankroll the party. We don't have to wait till 2016 to start looking for money. We have to increase the dues paying members and supporters should be made to realise how important it is for them to support the party financially by paying monthly dues.

The point is that, all is not lost because Nana Akuffo Addo would have been a great President with Dr. Bawumiah as his Vice but the likability factor was missing and his age in the midst of Mills demise did work against him. He was a hard candidate to sell to the populace with Mahama's fake "I am a humble guy" mantra which he flummoxed Ghanaians to buy. Hope the country will not be bankcrupted with all the looting brigade who used their personal fortune to buy this election waiting to replenish what they have spent. Ghana is in for hard times ahead.

Justice Sarpong

Houston, Texas

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)