Akufo-Addo ?Launches? A Different Kind Of Campaign

His has been long in coming and perhaps for good measure, too. The Statesman can disclose that the clearest indication yet of the Foreign Minister?s preparation to succeed John Agyekum Kufuor as the next President of the Republic Ghana is here.

A research centre, called Friends of Nana Akufo-Addo (FONAA) Institute, has been established here in Accra. The building, directly opposite the old International Press Centre, Kokomlemle, is equipped with staff and computers. Staff members include academics, young graduates and some die-hard loyalists of the ruling party and Nana Akufo-Addo, in particular.

When The Statesman visited the walled yellow storey building at the weekend, activity was brisk, with workmen and ?friends of Akufo-Addo? climbing up and down the stairs with equipment, furniture, books, files, etc. Donations were pouring in from well-wishers, as well.

According to the chief patron of FONAA, Victor Newman, who heads the think tank, the use of the building is primarily to prepare the ground in anticipation of the launching of Nana Akufo-Addo?s bid for the presidential nomination on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.

The strategy is sixfold: First of all, the institute hopes to co-ordinate the Akufo-Addo fun clubs mushrooming across the country. A significant boost to the confidence of Nana Akufo-Addo?s believers and deactivated foot soldiers is that the FONAA Institute seeks to serve as a centrifugal rallying point for the people committed to supporting the Foreign Minister?s bid to succeed President Kufuor.

Secondly, the institute is tasking itself to undertake a thorough study of the NPP - in collaboration with party executives - with the view to discover, if necessary, how the party may be reformed to become more issue-oriented, more branch-strengthened and more responsive to the sentiments of its rank and file membership and to its future electoral challenges.

The think tank aims to present itself and its works to the party headquarters for the party?s general benefit, after the election of a presidential candidate. The contest is most likely to take place after the country?s Golden Jubilee anniversary next year. The smart money is on June 2007. However, there is a growing argument to have it much earlier in December 2006 or January 2007. The third arm of the institute?s strategy is to device the most effective way for FONAA?s prospective candidate to win the flagbearership of the NPP. Fourthly, the institute aims to organise periodic lectures to promote the ideologies of the Danquah-Busia tradition. This may go some way to respond to the disquiet within the NPP that the party did not have a public platform, such as the Socialist Forum, to project its ideas.

Finally and ultimately, FONAA will make its main intellectual focus the message and policy initiatives that an Akufo-Addo presidential candidacy will present to the general public.

?Apart from undertaking in-house research analysis on various topics, the institute shall be employing the services of various experts and organisations to perform specific tasks,? explains Mr Newman.

The remarkable nature about this kind of campaign strategy is that the Akufo-Addo campaign, when finally launched, will already have a well-researched manifesto which will clearly spell out how he intends to continue from where President Kufuor leaves off and why the general electorate should give the NPP another term in office after eight years.

?Becoming the presidential candidate should not be determined simply by how much money a candidate spends on party executives. It should not be determined by where a candidate hails from. It should not be decided on the basis of empty promises, bad-mouthing, self-promotion, self-commendation and self-claims on achievements collectively chalked under the able leadership of President Kufuor,? cautions Mr Newman.

Instead, he proposes, ?Who wins the NPP presidential nomination must be the man who can win the hearts, minds and thumbs of the nation. And, winning means having a well-designed, practical, radical and persuasive message delivered by a persuasive, trustworthy candidate, inspirational enough to win the votes and decisive enough to make it happen for Ghana .?

Mr Newman believes the Foreign Minister and MP for Abuakwa South is the ?best man? to succeed President Kufuor. The only remaining task is ?to prepare his package, the NPP delegates, the country and the road map for his presidency.? The head of the FONAA Institute further explains, ?Nana Addo is the strongest NPP man to take the fight to the NDC and all the others and come up tops, period. Those who believe his style is too aggressive and confrontational, should also be magnanimous enough to accept that Nana?s time at the Foreign Ministry has shown beyond doubt that he is also an extraordinary diplomat ? one of the finest and most successful Foreign Ministers this country has ever presented to the world. It is this kind of versatility that puts him way ahead of the others. It is the kind of versatility steeped in unyielding principles that makes a great leader.

?The P/NDC?s militaristic posture called for the approach he adopted at the time. His presidency should see that kind of political passion channeled into bringing greater happiness to the greater number of Ghanaians,? predicts Mr Newman.

Mr Newman?s view is that Nana Akufo-Addo?s drive in politics is not for personal ego or to amass wealth but simply to serve and motivate the nation to rise up to its fullest potential.

?He wants to put people and talent to work,? says Mr Newman. ?The gravest negative pull on leadership performance is for the person in leadership position to have one complex or the other about himself. Nana Addo suffers from none of that. He has the greatest respect and belief in the ability of the Ghanaian youth to rise to the occasion. The trick, as can be detected in President Kufuor?s policies, is to create the opportunities for our people to excel. We need to be bolder on that front, though? says Mr Newman. He says the work of the FONAA Institute is not to initiate policies for Nana Akufo-Addo.

?His vision is crystal clear. Our task, therefore, is to furnish the very philosophies and concepts he constructs. For example, he has introduced this exciting concept of Indigenous Capitalism. He wants more and more Ghanaians to take charge of the economy. He wants to create a practical national environment of general access to a property owning democracy. Nana Akufo-Addo wants Ghanaians to fully rediscover their sense of self-belief and self-confidence. He wants patriotism to overtake partisanship. What is our task, as FONAA Institute,? Mr Newman poses rhetorically?

?It is to work out how these hallowed and vital goals can be fully realised in the shortest possible time and as painless as practicable.?

Mr Newman does not see any contradiction between the Foreign Minister?s insistence that the party should focus on President Kufuor?s government delivering for the nation, leaving the succession campaign to a later date and the FONAA Institute being set up now.

?We believe no serious politician should begin his campaign without undertaking a scientific research on his chances and the policies on which he will be standing. Politics is more important than the ability to say the expedient thing at the convenient time. It should be fed by substance otherwise we waste our vote on those who told us what we wanted to hear and gave us what we wanted at that material time but not what we need to hear and what we need to secure, sustain and enhance our future,? is the message from Mr Newman.