Akufo-Addo’s posturing leaves him bruised and battered - NDC UK & Ireland

As the NPP functionaries and global net works look for avenues to dampen the furore over their flagbearer, Nana Akufo Addo’s recent unfortunate gaffes, reckless and irresponsible public pronouncements. Here is something from George Bush for them: "Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words."—George W. Bush, interview with Rush Limbaugh, Nov. 1, 2006.

Writing as Columnist on Ghana web Sunday 13th February 2011, Papa Kwesi Ndoum of the CPP states “The words of the NPP Flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo in the Eastern Region which included the unfortunate phrase, “…all die be die!” must be examined carefully in the proper context, particularly against the backdrop of what has happened in Ghana in the 4th Republic.

He states further, “recently, many ‘battles’ between NDC and NPP come to mind to tell all of us that we need to do a careful analysis of the NPP Flagbearer’s words and do something to push our national truck away from the terrifying course it is on. –What are these terrifying courses that Nana is dangerously treading? - Warmongering, disrespecting the dead and teaching our children political pornography (Bottoms of the dead) and tribal politics.

Ladies and gentlemen, our concern and worry are for those NPP surrogates: NPP USA, NPP UK & Ireland and NPP Holland etc. etc. who have all descended on to the news media to show solidarity and defend the indefensible. They now act like Transvanian Dracula with blood dribbling from their mouths (after 8 years of sucking mother Ghana dry). We wonder if they actually understand the consequences of their flag bearer’s words. Or whether they have done “careful analyses” into the backdrop of Nana’s unfortunate remarks “All die be die” slogan made during his campaign visit to the Eastern Region? We also wonder if they took the trouble to analyse the effect those unguarded remarks would have on our children, our communities and Ghana politics as a whole before descending into their usual gutter politics to justify those unfortunate reckless and irresponsible public pronouncements? Ladies and gentlemen, the backdrop to Nana’s recent reckless and irresponsible remarks is not far-fetched. They all point to the fear and desperation of losing the 2012 elections, which is written all over Nana’s face. The inability of the leader of the main opposition party to offer constructive criticisms and to provide Ghanaians with alternative polices deeply exposes Akufo-Addo as frustrated, weak minded and his lack of understanding of the mechanics of domestic and international politics.

Akufo-Addo’s desperate call to NPP supportersto use violence where necessary to ensure his party’s victory in the 2012 elections is rather worrying and unfortunate. We must bear in mind that recent events in the Middle East and elsewhere provide true testimony that peoples’ power and indeed democratic elections can effect an orderly transfer of power from one government to the other without bloodshed. It is despicable to hear Nana Akufo-Addo ask Ghanaians to go out there and die in order for him to become president because it doesn’t matter whether they die by car accidents or by the gun and “all die be die”. No Ghanaian need die to make a blood thirsty “Nana Bottom Power” a President by all means. Leading a tired and confused party, we would have thought that Akufo-Addo and his henchmen would do some inner soul searching to find out why the NPP lost the December 2008 elections. Instead, Nana and the NPP over the past two years in opposition have become rather desperate empty entities, with no alternate developmental agenda to offer Ghanaians. They abuse parliamentary privileges and use political platforms to beat war drums, which include his infamous warmongering phrase “all die be die”. Inciting party supporters to cause mayhem should the 2012 elections not go their way. Their ultimate aim is to make the country ungovernable, distracting the government of His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills from implementing the economic recovery programmes for which his administration was democratically elected.

It is rather unfortunate that as an aspiring presidential candidate Nana should use emotional and tribal issues to drive the political agenda instead of offering Ghanaians unity, peace and trust. He has failed to distance himself from ex- president Kufour’s 8 years rule of divisive, corrupt and murky tribal politics. We would wish Nana and his NPP surrogates in the Diaspora to take note of Papa Kwesi Ndoum’s comments below: “Many of the measures taken in the First Republic were to make sure that ethnic or tribal affiliations would be respected but become second to our identity as one people with a common destiny in a nation called Ghana. Our education system helped and so did the CPP Administration’s sharing of factories, schools, roads and other social infrastructure. Ghana was for Ghanaians and we were on the road to becoming a proud people where ethnic origin would be a secondary matter. Tribalism has made its way into our body politic in a way that is offensive and dangerous to our survival as a nation and our collective prosperity is put at risk. We are now coupling insane political partisanship with tribalism and putting it on display during our traditional festivals. Some of our chiefs are kneeling in front of the government of the day to beg for development that is their due. In the process, they sometimes become blind to the fact that they should be there for all of their people not just those who happen to be in power.” (Ghana web: 14 February 2011) There is overwhelming evidence that the New Patriotic Party under ex-president Kuffour now Akufo-Addo brought tribalism into the body politics in Ghana. This has indeed become “offensive and dangerous to our survival as a nation and our collective prosperity put at risk.” Political leaders the world - over seek to unite their people by building trust and inspire confidence in the citizenry but not creates unnecessary confusion and division among the populace. Nana’s coward remarks have made him a political disaster of his party and seem to “have lost him in traffic and transit”

Akufo-Addo seems to have no control over his sexual proclivities, he lets his tongue loose at the least opportunity He either talk about how strong and energetic young men camp at lady’s only Volta Hall in his days at the Legon University, or how he secretly referred to the late Theresa Tagoe as Bottoms or make reference to men’s sexual organs whether they are short or long and how God did not give men three “balls” but two. When one is braced for catastrophe, survival feels surprising remote. Today as the dusts settle on Nana’s recent unguarded and unfortunate tribute to the “bottom” of the late Theresa Tagoe, political pundits including many from his own party are questioning his judgment and suitability as a potential head of state. Whatever was the precise chemistry into the infusion of Nana and the bottom of a deceased person would forever remain unanswered. As the saying goes” dead (wo) men don’t talk”

This man cannot be president in Ghana, because his own life-long friends say they cannot sleep with him overseeing the affairs of this country, and his party followers call him an anarchist. Nana has lost the moral integrity as a potential leader in Ghana and has no courage to inspire or lead Ghanaians to any promising future. We need a God loving trustworthy leader, who will be examples for us and our children.

Alex Seshie-Vanderpuije Public Relations Officer NDC UK & Ireland Chapter