It is standard practice to have an introspection when you lose an election, and, of course, it’s the norm in any human endeavour either business or even losing a battle for a sweet heart. So, the NDC blame game that is taking shape in many fronts are expected. They are with retrospective analysis going through their check list to identify where all the bodies were laid. It is important that they leave no stone unturned if they seriously harbour desires to come back to power. However, any failure to come up with honest assessment of the issues will be an effort in futility. Sadly, the tangent they have chosen is what leave much to be desired. Though it’s not the first time, they are blaming the media for their self-inflicted humiliating defeat.

To some degree, I can sympathise with their frustrations, though they stubbornly close their eyes to see their own mammoth fault. It is heart wrenching when they threw so much money around thinking that they could buy the votes of the electorates with white elephant factories, for example, Komenda sugar factory, or a T-shirt and GHc200. They simply thought it was business as usual.

Just come to think about the internal wrangling that NPP had to contend with after the nomination of Nana Akufo-Addo for the third time as their flagbearer. It was shear pandemonium. Someone even lost his life. The party became synonymous with disunity and the NDC fed on it like a school of hungry sharks. Personally, I felt it was a mission impossible for Nana to wrestle the presidency from President Mahama. The simple fact is I did not factor into my calculations the self-immolation tendencies of the NDC apparatchiks. Their own insatiable appetite to rape the country was led into the open. They fed like pigs in a sty. As they overfed and drunk to their heart content, they took their eyes off the ball and the dumsor crisis deepened while companies closed their doors.

The president nailed his own coffin when responding to complaints of Ghanaians he said he had become like a dead goat. Basically, making Ghanaians understand that he is impervious to criticism that Ghanaians were levelling at him. This came from a President who holds postgraduate diploma in communication. If you are bowing out of politics, perhaps, you can let out such steam. Even that, you have to be mindful of the fortunes of your party, not alone when you are seeking re-election. Yet, they have the incredible nerve to blame the media for the hole they dug themselves

The media conglomerates are manned by human beings. They respond to current problems. The private media houses are sustained by advertisements, and the advertisement industry thrives on a vibrant economy. Therefore, if the economy is not firing on all cylinders they also feel the pinch. Woe unto you if you are the one responsible for it; they will devour you including your bones. Besides, they are not there for the government anyway. I will call them the unofficial opposition. In a democracy, the opposition can be wiped out in an election. And no democracy can function effectively without a solid opposition. It is the media that can stand in its stead for them to regroup.

Therefore, the importance of the media cannot be overemphasised. There is no business in the country that is protected by the constitution; that privilege belongs to the media. There are unnegotiable reasons why it was singled out and iron clad protection defined under chapter twelve of that sacred document. It is meant to protect the people and not the government.

Anytime the media does the bidding of the government they have lost their raison d'être. The media did its job. It did it in the year 2000, 2008 and again in 2016. The next four years will be with us in no time. If Nana loses his grip he will be punished by the same media that propelled him to power.


Philip Kobina Baidoo Jnr
London
baidoo_philip@yahoo.co.uk