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Opinions of Monday, 24 February 2020

Columnist: Abdul Hafiz

An open letter to Chairman Kwame Baffoe Abronye

Abronye DC Abronye DC

Mr. Chairman, many believe that you cannot read and those who think you can read believe that you cannot go beyond three lines. They say you can only comprehend and communicate with insults.

I do not share either view. I will concede that when you consider a literary submission of sufficient importance you have the prescence of mind, discipline, health, intelligence and ability to read through it very slowly and very carefully weighing up every word. And that is precisely as it should be.

The first open letter that I wrote to you was in March 2019 and the following serves as the second.

You will forgive me because this is a long letter and I am fully aware that your ability to read beyond one page is certainly in doubt.

Nevertheless I urge you to do your best to muster the courage, energy and intellectual stamina to stay the course and to find the time out of your busy schedule to read it from beginning to end.

I have written it because our party under your chairmanship is entering into dangerous and precarious waters and I sense that something disastrous will spun out soon in the Bono region if authorities of the party continue to entrust you with responsibilities.

Be rest assured that I speak out of nothing but love and concern for the welfare of the party and to help the party in my small way win all the twelve parliamentary seats in the region. I have never been happy criticising members of my party in the public space due to the tendency of it been used against us by the NDC. But if it will be a correction mechanism, I will gladly do it.

Dear Chairman, you and I know very well that your sadden rise to stardom or popularity status hasn’t been achieved through any great effort but is simply because the use of vulgar words and insults which is your stock in trade has sadly been accepted in our today body politics. But let me assure you and all those engage in politics of insults that your style of politics will soon be a thing of the past. Ghanaians are now well awake and will not countenance such primitive style of politicking moving forward. I don’t know how long it will take for us to get there as country, but when we finally get there, you won’t find a place to fixed yourself. This letter isn’t intended to insult you or undermine and disrespect your office but rather to shine the light of truth on all your activities with a view to assisting and encouraging you to change your ways.

You will agree with me that, no matter how bitter it may be, that truth must be told. This is a sacred obligation on our part as young members of the great NPP to rewrite every wrong moving into the general elections and beyond.

We all owe the President and the NPP another resounding victory in this year’s elections and anything we must do as card bearing members of the party should be towards victory 2020. It is in vein that I have little doubt that no matter how badly you may feel after reading it, history will vindicate me and prove me right and one day you will acknowledge and recognise the profundity, wisdom and foresight in my constant and consistent criticisms, admonitions and counsel.

Mr Chairman,kindly note and consider the following.

You became the party’s regional chairman not through the ballot or delegates elections, but through a constitutional sub-provision which is accepted anyway. It is an open secret that you wouldn’t have been given the mandate to chair the party if there was to be an election. No wonder you became so desperate of seeing to it to it that no elections was held. But don’t be too comfortable because the contest you wish never to see will one day come.

Ever since you were made the chair of the party in the region, most people still refuse to recognise you as such, some refer to you as circumstance Chairman or Acting Chairman, but I see you as the regional chairman because I understand what the party’s constitution says in that regard. But since April 2019 till now, I haven’t really seen what you have done significantly that has inured to the growth of the party in region.

You have been more or else a problem to the party than a solution. You haven’t been an alternative to past regional chairmen, the party’s fortunes is dwindling under your chairmanship. Despite all this, I still see greatness in you because you are young and there is always a second chance for every young person. You still have an opportunity to make yourself great and restore the lost confidence in you.

Few days ago, a friend of mine from Accra told me how he admires your vociferous style of politics but rhetorically asked if you had an office in Accra. I don’t know what culminated such a question but he was quick to add that you seems to be chairing the Party from Accra instead of the Bono region. Whatever that may mean, I wasn’t interested in that anyway so I had to change the conversation with something else. But isn’t it sad to hear your regional chairman shouting 12/12 in front of the President and party big wigs but return to Sunyani to initiate treacherous plans against the party? I know the reality to this question will soon don at us.

Dear Chairman, barely two weeks ago,I read a story on ghanaweb which was attributed to you. The story indicated that you were openly fighting an NPP sitting MP over the Dormaa West seat. This story was followed by a widely circulated video in which Hon Kennedy Agyepong was heard saying how smart you are when it comes to working against people. Many party folks including myself shared this story on various social media platforms. I was later on informed that you got angry with me and others who shared the story. Chairman Abronye, I never imagine you could ever be hurt by comments or stories against you. You have done it to others in the past. So why are you hurt when you are been served what you sell?.

You had earlier on indicated that I would be suspended for criticising you. I wasn’t perturbed because I understand perfectly well what the party’s constitution says on disciplinary proceedings against members, suspension and expulsion of members of the. It was therefore ridiculous and absurd for me to receive a letter from the Regional Communication Director through WhatsApp and signed by the Regional Secretary indicating my suspension and two other members. Upon receiving the letter, I screamed in amazement not because of the effect of the content of the letter but because the public embarrassment it would cause the party.

The letter was dated 21st February, 2019, No reference number was attached, no signature, my name was wrongly spelt and no constitutional provisions were heeded to. I informed MR ABS (Communication Director) that the date of the letter should be checked properly before been circulated but before that could be done, the one year ago letter was already in circulation. Mr Kwame Baffoe, since you were made the regional chairman through a constitutional provision of Article 9, I thought you will pay much attention to Article 3 and 4 of the same constitution when suspending members of the party.

Have you not read Article 3&4 of the NPP constitution which spells out suspension, expulsion and disciplinary measures against members of the party?. Haven’t you read further in Article 4 that no Regional Executive is a member of the disciplinary committee ?. And you couldn’t read Article 3 which direct you to refer matters which needs disciplinary actions to the Regional Disciplinary Committee. Or you do not respect the constitution that you so much quoted its provisions in your quest of becoming regional Chairman? You see how time can expose our selfish individualist interest? Unlike you, I have never sat in constitutional law class and I wouldn’t pretend to know the laws of our party more than you do, but if I read the NPP Constitution, I can comprehend and connect the dots. In simple language, this letter signed by the Bono NPP Regional Secretary makes mockery of the whole Secretariat and should quickly be withdrawn.

Mr Chairman, as indicated in my opening statements, this letter promise to be a long one, so please take a cup of coffee because we have just started. Just a few days ago, you were seen on camera with a ram in a cemetery cursing and calling on deities to strike one Yayra Koku whom you claimed had accused you of possessing five of the so called missing excavators, you felt so bad isn’t it? Now, do you understand how it hurts when you accused noble and Honourable men in society?. I’m a Muslim who serves Allah with my might and for that matter do not believe in deities and gods, but I do know the gods aren’t crazy. My Mom used to tell me that those who behead others never wish to lie down with their necks facing up. Those accusing noble men never wish to be accused and that’s the irony of life. I don’t hold anything against you Chairman, but I’m much interested in seeing NPP succeed in Bono region.

Yes I have seen a letter indicating that I have been suspended together with two others, but I will treat it with the contempt that it deserves. As I stated earlier, the letter is a mockery of the NPP Bono Regional Secretariat and must be rewritten for the third time.

The party constitution must be adhered to, if indeed you believe that I should be suspended for social media misconduct as stated in the letter, then file a case before the Regional disciplinary committee, allow the committee to investigate the matter, come out with their findings and recommendations then you implement it as Regional Executive Committee. That’s what the party constitution requires of you.

Dear Chairman, this is an election year so every Pharaoh shall meet his Moses and every Goliath will meet his David as well.

Every tyrant, no matter how powerful and highly-placed, will not be allowed to dwindle the chances of the NPP in this year’s elections.

"On our part as young patriots of the NPP, I believe that this is a defining moment for us. We must be bold enough to speak against power drunk and abuse of power. We have accepted our current crop of leaders to lead us into the future we so much desired to see. We will not allow few self-seeking politicians to erode our future. We shall speak in unison against abuse of power and we shall stain pages with our pens when we see any tendencies of disrespecting and breaching the NPP’s Constitution and anyone who tries to erode the chances of the NPP in this year’s elections will be met with fury. No matter how hard you try to get us tamed and quiet, know this: the die is cast, Caesar has crossed the Rubicorn, the horse has bolted from the stable, the cat is out of the bag, our eyes have been opened and we shall defend the party with our might.

And to my friends who choose to be silent in times of injustice, let me remind you that you have chosen the ways of the oppressors. And when there is no one left to be oppressed, the oppressors will come for you too. For some of us, we have no choice but to use all lawful and non-violent means to break the yoke of any tyrannic rule. And I am very optimistic that we will succeed in our quest for total liberation. If we fail to do so future generations of our party shall NEVER forgive us.