Be More Diplomatic, Mr. Appiah-Ofori

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

He has been with the party from the very beginning, and so nobody can impugn the integrity, goodwill and credibility of Mr. Paul Collins Appiah-Ofori, when the retired New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa asserts that Nana Akufo-Addo deserves a third shot at the presidency (See "I'll Quit NPP If Delegates Fail To Vote Akufo-Addo - P. C. Appiah-Ofori" Peacefmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 1/13/14).

P. C., as he is affectionately called, is also widely known to literally put his money where his mouth is. We all witnessed a laudable demonstration of this when in the wake of Justice William Atuguba's double-slapping of Messrs. Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, the NPP General-Secretary, and Hopeson Adorye, that firebrand operative of Ghana's main opposition party, with a hefty fine on the dubious grounds of criminal contempt of the Supreme Court, Mr. Appiah-Ofori promptly stepped up to the plate - in American baseball parlance - to settle the fine.

What the foregoing means is that P. C. is more of a man of action than anything else; or, perhaps, the most apt description of the man is rhetorically and behaviorally ambidextrous. Thus rather than so abruptly threatening to quit his membership of the NPP if he does not have his way, by having a repeat presidential candidacy of Nana Akufo-Addo resoundingly affirmed, he ought to be touring the various constituencies of the party around the country, hobnobbing with the party's movers and shakers, and meticulously and systematically explaining to them why an Akufo-Addo candidacy reprise offers the best chance of returning Ghana's most progressive and democratic political organization to the helm of the nation's affairs.

The preceding course of action would definitely be far more convincing, and in keeping with the Danquah-Busia-Dombo Tradition of the free exercise of electoral power by the good and generally forward-looking operatives of the New Patriotic Party. Currently, palpable tensions among the ranks of the party's topmost hierarchy necessitates the forging of a concilliatory approach towards effectively rallying party faithful, supporters and sympathizers around its most formidable leaders, however controversial such leaders may be deemed by both neutral observers and rivals, and even diehard internal detractors.

Of course, such diplomatic approach is highly unlikely to be deemed a cakewalk, but it is indubitably the most at once constructive and effective way of meaningfully strategizing for an Election 2016 victory, resoundingly!

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
Jan. 13, 2014
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
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