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Opinions of Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Columnist: Sayibu, Akilu

Why It Must Be Professor Boateng On August 7

10 Solid And Very Urgent Reasons Why It Must Be Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng On August 7

Since the contest for the NPP presidential leadership commenced, a lot of people including the various aspirants have unveiled elaborate reasons why they should be voted to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into election 2012.
While some aspirants only reason that they want to be voted to lead the NPP is centered on how youthful they claim they are, others wanted to be voted to lead the NPP and to subsequently be president(s) of Ghana because their “ancestors” once ruled Ghana!

Even with barely a week to go for the contest some among the aspirants are actually yet to tell the electorate clearly, why they should be voted to lead the NPP! Their vision and mission about the NPP is sort of shrouded in secrecy! Some of the aspirants also disclosed that, they have no email addresses and the only reason they have no email addresses is that, “their computers got spoilt and they could not therefore register for an email address” Is it funny dear readers?
The only person among the aspirants who openly and clearly outlined his vision for the NPP and Ghana has being Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng. He not only told the electorate why he should be given the mandate he went ahead and proposed that, a leadership contest should be conducted among aspirants of the NPP to assess their vision and mission for both the NPP and Ghana for the delegates to make their choice on August 7.
This laudable and heavily hailed suggestion which even attracted a promise of sponsorship and other offers to make it realistically was ignored by both the NPP as a party and the other aspirants! It is yet to be explained why that idea was rejected and the idea of what I will term “overt coronation” of a candidate given the green light!

What delegates must be told and understand very well is that, it takes both intra-party acceptance and national acceptability to reach the Jubilee House. There is no doubt at all that, some candidates have the intra-party popularity, there is also no doubt that, they are infamous nationally and going for them will prove a yeoman task for the NPP in its attempt to capture political party once again from that current regime in Ghana which is behaving as like “Alice in Wonderland” .

With this background, majority of the electorate nationally are anxious to vote for Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng and have very urgent reasons to support their rationale.

First, such people think that, some of the aspirants are clearly divisive materials and will definitely destroy rather than construct the party in the unlikely event that such persons are elected on Saturday. The very serious rivalry between Nana Addo and Alan Kyeremateng which is clearly centered on Akyem and Ashanti bitterness is seen as an immediate example.
In the circumstance, lovers of the NPP are calling for the election of KFB to definitely unify the NPP after August 7. There are already talks that, some persons and even current Members of Parliament declaring their support for some of the candidates especially Nana Addo is in other for them to be “imposed” on their constituencies in 2012 to seek re-election again with his approval should he be elected presidential candidate of the NPP for election 2012.
It is anticipated that, when this is allowed to happen there will be a record Independent candidates contesting the 2012 elections from within the NPP. KFB is therefore seen as the only candidate who can salvage such a situation and unite the NPP- hence the reason some are calling for his election on Saturday to save the NPP from collapse!
Second, KFB is seen to be a personality who has unblemished character nationally which could serve as a very positive election tool for the NPP. He has no womanizing and use of illegal drugs allegations against him among other things. He is seen to be excessively humble in all he does and this is seen by some of his fans as a very good omen for the NPP hence the need for him to be voted for on August 7.
Third, his track-record both inside and outside Ghana is seen to be unequalled as compared to others who were seen to have failed as ministers in small ministries in Ghana. People are of the view that, Ghana at this needed someone who has both outstanding political and public service record to lead the NPP and Ghana. To such people KFB is just the right person for the NPP now.
Four, KFB is seen to have a very clear agenda for the NPP and Ghana and he is therefore seen to be exactly what the NPP need now for victory in 2012. While his campaign has abundantly illustrated these, other aspirant’s campaign messages are either attacking the current president or having their campaign team issuing contradictory and unnecessary statements all over the place!
Five, he is also seen to be a very decent and discipline aspirant whose campaign so far has been described as the most decent in recent internal NPP contest. While some of his opponents within the contest have had their thugs even beat up their own party members who are seen to be opposed to them, KFB rather called for peace when his supporters were attacked in front of the NPP Head-quarters in Accra. This quality is seen as very laudable for a potential president of Ghana.
Six, KFB is seen as the only aspirant who represents both the “minority” and the “majority” tribes in the party. This is hailed as an automatic foundation to unite the party and Ghana after August 7. An asset the other aspirants are yet to acquire!
The seventh reason why some think he should be voted on August 7 is that, he is seen to have the magic wand to attract floating voters for the NPP as a party for its victory in 2012, as a result of the overwhelming likeability he has across the country. This very positive quality is something political observers feel the NPP must grab to its maximum advantage by going for him on Saturday.
Some are of the reason that, he is a good listener and does not use foul language on his own party people whose votes he definitely will need to be president of Ghana. This quality has been described as a presidential quality that the NPP must make use of by voting for him as the candidate of the party to make victory consolidated in 2012.
Others who are canvassing for KFB says he has overwhelming marketability persona which are very positive for the NPP and will therefore make their campaign for election 2012 very simple should he be elected to lead the party he helped formed.
Another school of thought says his calm composure, his downright attitude and his God-fearing attitude among other very positive attributes makes him the man for the NPP at this time. The slogan of such people is “This is time for Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng”
With the above well elaborated reasons why the NPP should go for Professor Kwabena Frimpong- Boateng, the expectation is that, all lovers of the NPP and its success will help make this a reality not just for KFB but for the victory of the NPP in 2012.
AKILU SAYIBU, UK
Email: Akilu.Sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk