By: Awuraa Esi Johnson

The time is nigh for the NPP to elect its leader to contest for the 2016 Presidential Election. The contest to choose a leader for the party in the past has been keen and it is not expected to be any different this time around. The contest will provide an opportunity for aspirants to sell themselves and their platforms to the delegates in particular and Ghanaians in general. Surrogates for various aspirants are never missed in the show. They will use any opportunity to sell their candidates by all sorts of means and that’s part of the game as long as the debates are based on issues and facts. What we should not allow people to get away with are discussions based on raw emotions designed to play the psychology of the people through falsehood and misrepresentation of facts and careless projection of candidates such as this one that compares Akufo-Addo with Moses and Jesus.
In his article titled; “Nana Addo and the burden of leadership” Michael Kessey dared to compare Akufo-Addo with Moses and Jesus Christ in a glare intellectually dishonest manner. In his attempt to deceive, he conjures a scriptural passage and deliberately presents only half of the story. Presenting half-truths from the Bible to deceive Ghanaians is not only sacrilegious but also belittling their intelligence.
There is no moral, intellectual or Devine basis for comparing Akufo-Addo with Moses let alone Jesus Christ. God chose Moses, anointed him and gave him the authority to lead his people out of bondage. Thus, the role of Moses was a DEVINE order. Unlike Moses, Akufo-Addo chose his path to be a leader. He sought the people’s support and was elected by men – sinful men and women whose ways are nowhere close to that of God’s. At all times, Moses looked up to God for directions. Akufo-Addo has always looked up to men and women who sing his praises the loudest for direction. Cronies who strive to make livelihood out of Akufo-Addo’s leadership are his advisors. How can he be compared with Moses, the one chosen and anointed by God?
We learned from the Good Book that Moses led the Israelites out of bondage and NOT to the Promised Land. After he had been warned by God that he would not be permitted to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River, Moses did not grow bitter; he was gracious that the LORD had given him the opportunity to bring His people out of bondage. Graciously, he assembled the people and gave them the following parting words:
“I am now a hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to be your leader. And besides this, the LORD has told me that I will not cross the Jordan. The LORD your God himself will go before you and destroy the nations living there, so that you can occupy their land; and Joshua will be your leader, as the LORD has said.”
These are words that shall never come from the mouth of Akufo-Addo. Why then compare him with Moses?
Akufo-Addo was scheduled to file his nomination papers to contest the flag-bearership position on this past Friday July 04 and failed to do so. According to an article on Ghanaweb, the decision to call off the filing on that day was allegedly given as his recent rapid ailing health as advised by his UK doctors. The article further alleged that after meeting with his team of advisors, a decision was taken that in the likely event that Dr. Bawumia, the heir apparent of Akufo-Addo may take over from Akufo-Addo, he needs to ride on the back of the infectious popularity of Akufo-Addo within the party in order to fly their factional flag. Finally the Akuffo Addo for 2016 Team decided that their best bet is to present Akufo-Addo (even on the sick bed) and take care of any future fallout later.
I do not want to believe that the story in the article is true. But, considering other facts and the fact that Akufo-Addo has been given the opportunity two times and has FAILED on both and is still pushing himself to lead for the third time at the age of seventy plus, how can one not believe this story? So why are people trying to throw dust in the eyes of Ghanaians by comparing him with Moses? Moses was not going to step on or lead his people triumphantly to the Promised Land yet he was appreciative of the opportunity given him to play a part. He knew his limits and also knew that there were others; a younger generation who were more capable, to continue the journey to the Promised Land, thereby, finishing what he had started.
After being a minister of two high portfolios and NPP’s Presidential Candidate on two FAILED attempts, Akufo-Addo should not only know his limits, he MUST be appreciative with the opportunities and rewards the NPP have accorded him. He must also know he is not repository of all wisdom and knowledge and that there is a younger generation that can continue his work and bring Ghanaians to the “Promise Land.”Even if people want to figuratively compare Akufo-Addo with Moses, then the best advice they can give would be for him to step aside.
Many true leaders have done the same. A recent one that comes to mind is the selflessness display of a rather younger politician in Ontario Canada, Mr. Timothy Patrick Hudak. Mr. Hudak was born on November 1, 1967 and until recently the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party), Canada. He had been the Leader since 2009. He also serves as member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the riding of Niagara West. Following the loss of his party in the June 12, 2014 provincial election he announced as part of his concession speech that he will be resigning as the party leader as soon as his successor is chosen. On June 18, 2014, two days after a caucus meeting of elected and defeated MPPs to discuss and evaluate the Party’s performance at the just concluded election, Mr. Hudak announced that he would step down as leader effective July 2, 2014.
Lessons learned from this are that; soon after the defeat, a meeting was called to discuss and evaluate performance, Mr. Hudak admitted his faults in the loss, he also showed appreciation for the opportunity his party gave him to lead them into two elections. Finally, he realized that the party is not his personal property and that there are others who can take the party to the next level. Remember, he is only 47 years old.
Why can’t our leaders/elders emulate the selflessness of the West if we aspire to develop our nation like theirs? Why couldn’t Akufo-Addo even attempt to do the same to save his party from the mess that his political ambition has created? The least he could have done after these defeats was call for a review of the party’s performance, determine what we did right and/or wrong, accept some responsibility for failure and come out with recommendations for the Way Forward. None of this has happened and yet wants to lead again. SAME OLD SAME OLD. In short, Akufo-Addo is NO Moses and can never be Moses.