Don’t Use “Every Means”

Use Every ‘Legitimate Means’ Rather

By Otchere Darko

Reference 1: ‘Mr. Kyeremanteng in that regard advised the party to rather find other means of helping it gain power saying, “let us use every means available to try and find out exactly what will give us power” ‘ [Ghanaweb General News of Wednesday, 16th April 2014 captioned “Nana’s popularity won’t guarantee victory for NPP – Alan”; Sourced from Citifmonline.com].

Reference 2: ‘He also urged the party to do a soul searching as to why it lost the general elections in 2012 and attempt rectifying it.

“If a formidable party such as ours loses two successive elections, which we should have won by any stretch of imagination, something must be wrong and we should be bold enough to interrogate that.....” ’

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Following from Reference 1, one can say that it is mathematically correct to argue that Nana Akufo-Addo is most likely to emerge as NPP’s 2016 Flagbearer, IF (and only if) it is true that within the NPP he (Nana Akufo-Addo) is today the most popular presidential aspirant in the biggest opposition party in Ghana.

Mr Alan Kyerematen himself has acknowledged “Nana’s popularity”, judging by the statement quoted above under reference number 1, which is attributed to him. If he (Alan) is not challenging “Nana’s popularity” within NPP, then he is not challenging the argument and the logic behind the argument that, democratically, Nana is the person who has to win the next NPP contest to elect the party’s flagbearer. Given that Alan is not challenging “Nana’s popularity” within NPP; and, further, given that most Ghanaian voters tend to show unwavering loyalty towards their parties and their preferred candidates, he (Alan) must embrace himself to concede defeat after the impending NPP presidential contest, knowing that in a democracy, it is he who is voted into office by the majority of voters that wins an election, and NOT the one who, [by whatever basis of analysis], is “deemed better” by any group of self-appointed political analysts, especially where such self-appointed political analysts, themselves, cannot be deemed be acting with ‘independent’ and ‘unbiased’ mind.

Of course, ‘Akufo- Addo’s strong positioning within the NPP, “is not necessarily a reflection of what will help the party [to] gain power in 2016.”’, as it was rightly pointed out by Alan. ‘Popular choice’ does not necessarily mean ‘the best choice’. However, we cannot push aside ‘popular choice’ and go for what the minority consider to be a ‘better choice’. Substituting the majority’s ‘POPULAR CHOICE’ for the minority’s ‘BETTER CHOICE’ is tantamount to a coup d’état against democracy.

It is right for Mr Alan Kyerematen to express his view and state his position. However, it is important for all NPP presidential aspirants to stop questioning the ‘wisdom’ behind ‘popular choice’, which is synonymous with ‘the voice of the people’. Any political course of action that fails to follow the direction dictated by ‘the voice of the people’ is bound to fail.

This brings my discussion to some of the things Mr Alan Kyerematen said including those quoted under reference number two. Alan is hundred percent right to urge NPP to “do a soul searching as to why it lost the general election in 2012 and attempt to rectify it.”

Alan in Reference 2 says: “If a formidable party such as ours loses two successive elections, which we should have won by any stretch of imagination, something must be wrong and we should be bold enough to interrogate that.” He is also right here, but he (Alan) must start to question himself as to whether he (Alan) contributed significantly towards the two successive election losses that NPP has suffered since 2008.

William Shakespeare tells us in Julius Caesar that “the eye sees not itself but by reflection.” It is no wonder that Mr Alan Kyerematen seems to be unable to see himself as much as outsiders see him.

Firstly, he must ask ‘independent people’ to tell him why is it that he (Alan) has twice been beaten by Nana Akufo-Addo. Secondly, he (Alan) must ask independent people to tell him that by always not conceding defeat in truly democratic spirit and thus not participating visibly and effectively during the general election after he (Alan) had lost in both the 2008 and 2012 NPP flagbearer’s contests to Nana Akufo-Addo, he (Alan) paints himself as “selfish” in the eyes of most NPP delegates. In political contests, like those that lead to the election of flagbearers, there must always be winners and losers. All cannot win at the same time. When this happens in parties operating in democratic environments, people expect those who lose elections to accept their defeat in good faith and work with, and for those who defeated them. Through his failure truly accept defeat and to learn to work with Nana Akufo-Addo, Mr Alan Kyerematen consciously or unconsciously helped to create the perceived “two factions” (“the Akufo-Addo – Kufuor factions”) within the NPP; a perceived disunity that is not helping to advance the party’s political fortunes,

“You cannot do things the same way and expect different results,” Alan says, thanks to one of the most quoted ‘quotes’ often used by ‘rising politicians’ who seek powers but who, when they get it, refuse to accept the logic enshrined in the very ‘quote’ that allowed them to effect the change that shot them into where there are.

Mr Alan Kyerematen must stop behaving as if he (Alan) had [and still has] the inalienable right to automatically become the successor to former President Kufuor whose two-term electoral successes were alleged to have come about because of his (Alan’s) significantly substantial financial inputs towards NPP’s election coffers and which, as a result, puts former President Kufuor and NPP under seeming contractual ‘obligation’ of some sort to repay him in the form of ‘right to inherit’ the first and only NPP President since the Fourth Republic.

If Alan stopped ‘vanishing’ into ‘political obscurity’ every time he is beaten by Nana Akufo-Addo as NPP flagbearer and never learned to concede defeat and worked with the man who has twice beaten him [and is likely to beat him again for the third time in the forth-coming NPP flagbearer’s contest, NPP is likely to work as a ‘united team’ and win the 2016 election..

Is is about time Alan stopped questioning the intelligence of NPP delegates who choose the party’s flagbearer every four years. Mr Alan Kyerematen must learn to work with Nana if and when Nana wins the nest NPP flagbearer’s contest. He has to do this for the good of his party, as well as for his own good.

THOSE WHO WANT TO LEAD OTHERS MUST FIRST LEARN TO SERVE, UNTIL ‘FATE’ OPENS THE WAY PROPERLY FOR THEM AT THE RIGHT TIME. PRUDENT POLITICIANS ALWAYS “MAKE HASTE SLOWLY”. THEY ALSO WIN ELECTIONS BY USING LEGITIMATE AND DEMOCRATIC MEANS. THEY NEVER USE “EVERY MEANS” IN ORDER TO WIN ELECTIONS.