John Boadu is the National Organiser of, and the Acting General Secretary for, the
New Patriotic Party (NPP). I heard him speak, or listened to his recorded interview
granted to the media, play, on Peace FM radio during their 18:00 hours news reportage
of Monday, 13 February 2017. I was not at all amused at the statements he made in
response to some concerns being expressed by some NPP party members in Sefwi in the
Western region over the appointment of a DCE for their district.
Some party members in the district seem to prefer another person to the one likely to
be appointed by His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo for the post of
DCE. From what I heard and later crossed-checked on Ghana internet news portals for
further confirmation, such agitating requests are not only limited to Sefwi but also,
taking place in other districts in the country.
A woman who is likely an activist of NPP spoke from Sefwi saying, “The seat has
always been NDC’s but we worked very hard to snatch it from them. The NPP Regional
Chairman and the Women’s Organiser were never on the ground with us during the
campaign. We fought hard to win the seat for NPP therefore if the party leaders are
not going to listen to us, we will ourselves decide what to doâ€
John Boadu in response to such scattered agitations by aggrieved party members who
see themselves and their noble requests to NPP party leaders as being rejected said,
“They can do whatever they like. We have heard instances of such noises made
several times but we do not care. They can take their requests to the President but
what will they do if the President rejects their requests?†What I heard could well
be confirmed by a similar statement he made when addressing the media at NPP
headquarters in Accra as read on Ghanaweb and Modernghana. He said and I quote,
“appointments are strictly based on merit and as such, the party will not succumb
to any "noise" from any quarters.
Let me tell John Boadu what such aggrieved persons can do. They can refuse to vote
for NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo in any future elections. It is their absolute right to do
whatever they want with their vote. They can choose not to exercise their franchise.
They can choose to vote for NPP. They can choose to vote for any other party. They
have the choice to go for any of the options just enumerated above.
John Boadu should not assume NPP is now in power so he can speak to the ordinary
supporters anyhow. He must bear in mind that he will need them, or other discerning
members of the party will need their services in future even if the NPP is now happy
with being in power for only one term.
Nana Akufo Addo begged; and was encouraged by us, discerning supporters of the party,
to continue to humble himself and beg for votes in order to garner more winning
votes. He did exactly that even though the NDC and then President cum
Presidential-candidate John Dramani Mahama, mocked him for begging. In the end, God
touched the hearts of Ghanaians to vote massively for Nana Akufo Addo and NPP.
If our leader is humble, why should John Boadu inflame any already-flared tempers
instead of being diplomatic with the agitated party members to calm them down?
Additionally, he claims not to understand why about only five women or a fewer number
of women did apply to be DCEs/MMDCEs out of the total 216 districts in Ghana. Here
again, John Boadu is not making any sense to me. If they had advertised in the
appropriate media and venues, and women refused to apply for the positions, why
should he think that compulsorily, some DCE/MMCEs positions must be reserved for
women at the expense of the men who have shown interest, and applied for the
positions?
Again, if entering into advance negotiations with the subsequent promises to some
people to automatically appoint them DCEs if they agreed not to stand as independent
candidates to contest the parliamentary elections in areas where such presence could
have cost NPP dearly, why should John Boadu not be sensible enough to diplomatically
carry such concerns to the agitating party supporters rather than being that blunt?
In my opinion, the way I heard John Boadu carry his feelings across is quite
irresponsible. He must learn to be diplomatic. He has to learn a lesson from the fate
of NDC and especially, that of former President John Mahama. He always said Ghanaians
have a short memory and again, he would not listen to anyone who had never been a
President of Ghana. Little did he know that Ghanaians were not stupid and had not a
short memory as he thought? They remembered all his corrupt behaviours and his
disrespect for the people hence voting him out of power when the opportunity came.
John Boadu, please do not underestimate the intelligence and the resolve of the party
supporters for if you do, it can come back to bite us in future when we really need
their help.
I am placing this publication out for John Boadu in the belief that “It does not
belong to he who is leading to redirect their stepsâ€. John, you have goofed big
time, so at an opportune time, please do apologise to the worldwide NPP supporters,
and Ghanaians in general, for your offensive statement made for which you are today
being reminded of and corrected.
Rockson Adofo
(Written on Monday, 13 February 2017)
