Opinions of Friday, 13 January 2023

Columnist: Abeiku Cobbinah

Alan's blooper; was it a setup or glimpses of naivety?

Immediate past Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen Immediate past Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen

It is said that political speeches should be written to have the alluring, persuasive, and compelling appeal, especially when they are meant to represent one's readiness to lead a political process view the view to capturing or maintaining power.

The presumption is that anything less than that leaves the speech's author with more questions than answers.

Guided by his political expediency, Alan appeared to criticize the six-year government that he was also part of its cabinet. In what also appears like
such frivolous quotations as "The arrogance of power has been a major obstruction to progress in our country”, he also by inference indicted himself.

People in positions of trust must understand that leadership provides the opportunity to serve the people, and not to be served. We should all be mindful, that in servant leadership, humility becomes an asset and not a weakness. The passion for excellence must be showcased.

As a country, we must keep celebrating competence and excellence, and shy away from mediocrity.

As a people, we must focus more on getting things and do less talking. Is Ghana gradually becoming a NATO country? We cannot remain just a talking country.

We need to remember that the use of time is a zero-sum game. What Ghana needs now are solutions and actions, not self-serving debates. We need to get serious."

Frankly speaking, Alan did not project himself as the ideal candidate for the flagbearership position in our great party. His speech was uninspiring and lacked content quality. There was not much to celebrate in his speech.

Indeed, the presidential bid address exposed Alan’s unpreparedness for the highest job in our country. I think he has been profoundly let down by his PR and communications team. They need to change the narrative and guide Alan well in the future. His speech writer and the research team did a poor job, and it showed from the beginning to the end of his speech.

If the speech was intended to present him to the world as the ideal candidate, then Alan failed to glitter it was not a good performance using the best standards in political communication.

This impending contest for the leadership of our party and country will be interesting, but will also nurture the path for our leaders to pick ideas from each other in the interest of our tradition relative to our internal democratic competition.

As I talk to the grassroots sympathizers of our party, I get the feeling that certain compromises must happen so that we present a formidable pair to lead our party, and eventually our country.

Until then, it is just important that we remain analytical to bring the best out of any good candidate interested in leading our party to victory in 2024.

God willing, that day will come so that we keep the momentum for development, peace, and security in our dear country, which we all love so much.