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Opinions of Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Columnist: VoiceOfReason

Akufo-Addo Is A Nuisance To The NPP - Part 3

Nana Akufo-Addo Is A Nuisance To The NPP - Part 3

Two weeks ago, President Mills held a town hall style press conference
during which he was reported to have stood on his feet for three hours
answering random questions from journalists some of whom are principally not
sympathetic to the ruling NDC. I find it hard to accept that he stood for
that long. The conference itself might have lasted three hours during which
he would sit, stand and walk about. If indeed he stood all the while, he
would have killed several birds with one stone – he would have shown his
genuineness by welcoming questions to which he did not have written answers,
portrayed himself as an approachable servant of the people and also sent a
message to his critics whose main problem with is presidency is that he is a
sick man. In fact, some people claim that he quoted several figures in his
answers without referring to a note, but I doubt that also.

Following Mills’ open and enduring conference, many NDC supporters,
including people in office, have childishly been calling for Nana to do the
same or, at worse, comment on the conference. To me, this is a stupid demand
because the point is to pick the best candidate, who may not be the
physically fittest, to be president. If we held a fitness contest among all
living contestants for president and Arthur Kennedy happened to win because
he is relatively young, would that make him the best candidate? Why did the
NDC supporters not ask for a fitness tournament between the candidates when
the overweight Mills was regularly attending medical treatment in South
Africa?

The NDC is leaving Nana off the hook by focusing on useless issues while
ignoring the pertinent one that can knock Nana out of the competition
altogether. The most important issue that the NDC must capitalize on here is
that Nana Mr. DoNothing Akuffo-Ado does not answer questions and it is not
just because he is arrogant – he avoids question that will prove that he is
not a presidential material. He only talks at length about how Ghana can be
fixed and in the midst of his supporters chanting Nana oo, Nana oo, he walks
away. He is afraid that a town hall style conference like what Mills did
might get him talking about the drug use allegation and whatever answer he
gives, the next question will be ‘why did you not speak up sooner? Nana is
afraid to answer questions about the Dzorwulu-3 whose cocaine arrest
documents disappeared from his office and the killings that went unsolved
during his tenure as Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

I am not a big fan of Mills, but I applaud him for his openness and
sincerity. The last time Kuffour subjected himself to such a press
conference in Koforidua, a pastor was chased to a police station, of all
places, and beaten up for asking a difficult question and nothing was done
to the perpetrators as if the beating was sanctioned by the government. As
for Nana Mr. DoNothing Akuffo-Ado, the easiest way to stop him in his tracks
is to ask him to face the TV cameras and tell the voters, in his own words,
what he accomplished as a minister for seven years. I am sure that Mills has
this question written on a piece of paper in his wallet and that is why he
was reported to have raised both hands in the air and started singing when
he was told that the NPP had chosen Nana as their presidential candidate.
The NPP must have now regretted for choosing such an unaccomplished
politician for president. Nana will remain a nuisance to the party for year
to come.

By VoiceOfReason